Market analytics · August 2026 archive
Cottonwood Heights, Utah real estate market report.
Monthly sold prices, days on market, sale-to-list ratio, and absorption rate. Updated nightly from UtahRealEstate.com and the Washington County Board of Realtors.
Updated · Sources: UtahRealEstate.com & Washington County Board of Realtors
August 2026 · Market Analysis
Cottonwood Heights shifts gears in August as closing pace slows sharply from July's sprint.
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The median home in Cottonwood Heights took 39 days to sell in August — a full month longer than July's remarkable 6-day median, and back to the same pace the market ran in March. Only 13 homes closed, well below the prior 12-month average of 23, so treat the August figures as directional rather than definitive. What the data does confirm clearly: the brief window of intense buyer competition that defined July has closed, and sellers are once again waiting longer for the right offer.
Market pulse
The speed story in Cottonwood Heights has reversed sharply. Median days on market traced a dramatic arc: 48 days in February, compressing through spring to 21 in April, 16 in May, and 15 in June, then bottoming at just 6 days in July before rebounding to 39 in August. The sale-to-list ratio followed the same pattern — 99.61% in July, now 97.23% in August, meaning sellers are netting about 2.4 percentage points less relative to their asking price. Active inventory reached 94 homes in August, up from 78 in July and 72 in June, while only 13 homes closed — so the shelf is building faster than buyers are clearing it. Nine of those 13 closings sold below list price; just 2 went above.
Mortgage context
The 30-year fixed rate has climbed steadily since February's 6.14% average, reaching 6.77% in August and ticking up further to 6.875% now — a move of 0.125 percentage points over the past 30 days. At those levels, a median-priced home here requires a monthly principal-and-interest payment that has grown meaningfully since winter, and that cumulative rate climb is almost certainly a factor in why fewer buyers are pulling the trigger. Jumbo financing — relevant for many Cottonwood Heights transactions above $806,500 — is sitting at 7.0%, adding another layer of friction for move-up buyers along the Wasatch bench.
Payment math
A $814,000 median-priced home financed with 20% down carries a monthly principal-and-interest payment of $4,275 at today's 6.875% rate — $54 more than 30 days ago at 6.75%, and $314 above the February low when rates averaged 6.14% and that same loan would have run $3,961 a month.
If you're buying
With 94 active listings and only 13 closings in August, buyers have real negotiating room — especially in the $400K–$700K range, where the 3 homes that closed had a median of 74 days on market. Target anything past 45 days on market and open with an offer anchored to the 97% sale-to-list ratio rather than the asking price. Homes in Riviera Heights #8 and Crestview Estates closed in August, so recent comparable sales exist in those neighborhoods — use them to ground your offer rather than the active list prices, which are running well above what's actually clearing.
If you're selling
August's 97.23% sale-to-list ratio means the market is no longer rewarding aspirational pricing — homes priced to July's competitive conditions are sitting. With the median list price at $943,962 and the median sale price at $813,500, the gap between what sellers are asking and what buyers are paying is real and wide. Price within 3–5% of recent comparable sales from the past 60 days, and if your home has been on market more than 30 days without an offer, a meaningful price adjustment now will outperform a slow grind into fall.
Outlook
Active inventory is likely to keep climbing into September as new listings continue arriving and closings remain light — at August's pace it would take over seven months to sell every home currently listed, compared to roughly three months in July. Rate trajectory offers little near-term relief: the 30-year has moved from 6.14% in February to 6.875% today, and September's monthly average is tracking at 6.88%. Buyers who can qualify at current rates will find more selection and more negotiating room than at any point this year, but the math of a $4,275 monthly payment on a median home is keeping a meaningful share of would-be buyers on the sidelines.
Watch for
At the current pace of new listings running above 30 per month while closings stay near 13, active inventory could reach 110–120 homes by October — a level that would likely push the sale-to-list ratio toward the low 96% range and extend median days on market past 45.
"From 6-day closings to 39 — August put the brakes on Cottonwood Heights' summer momentum."
Common questions about Cottonwood Heights this month
Is Cottonwood Heights a buyer's or seller's market in August 2026? ▾
It has shifted toward buyers. With 94 active listings and only 13 closings, there is far more supply than demand right now. The sale-to-list ratio dropped to 97.23% and 9 of 13 sellers accepted below their asking price — both signs that buyers have regained negotiating leverage they didn't have in July.
Why did homes take so much longer to sell in August compared to July? ▾
July's 6-day median was unusually fast — a brief window of intense competition that didn't carry forward. August brought more inventory (94 active listings, up from 78 in July), fewer buyers at 6.875% rates, and only 13 closings. The combination pushed the median back to 39 days, which is closer to the market's normal pace than July was.
Are prices falling in Cottonwood Heights? ▾
The August median sale price was $813,500, down from $860,000 in August 2025, but with only 13 closings the sample is too small to read as a clean trend. The more reliable signal is that sellers are netting about 97 cents on the dollar against their asking price, compared to nearly 100 cents in July — so effective prices are softening even if the median figure bounces around.
What price range is moving fastest right now? ▾
Homes above $700K closed with a median of just 7 days on market in August, driven by 9 of the 13 closings. The $400K–$700K range was the slow spot — those 3 homes sat a median of 74 days before closing. If you're shopping in that middle band, you have the most room to negotiate.
How do rising mortgage rates affect buying a home in Cottonwood Heights specifically? ▾
At the current 6.875% rate, financing a median-priced $814,000 home with 20% down runs $4,275 a month in principal and interest — $314 more than the same purchase would have cost in February when rates averaged 6.14%. Many Cottonwood Heights transactions also fall into jumbo territory (above $806,500), where rates are at 7.0%, adding even more to the monthly cost for higher-priced homes near Prospector Hill or Crestview Estates.
Number of Listings
Active inventory · new listings · sold per month
Listing Prices
Active median list · new median list · sold median sale
Absorption Rate
Months of supply — active inventory ÷ monthly sold rate
Sale-to-List Ratio
Close price ÷ list price — buyer/seller leverage
Days on Market
Median days from listing to under contract
Price Volume
Total dollar volume — active · new · sold per month
August 2026 cohort breakdown
Distribution of what closed last month — by price band, sale-vs-list outcome, and top subdivisions.
How sales priced vs asking
13 sold homes that had a list price recorded
Days on market spread
Quartile distribution
Median 39 · 25th percentile 6 · 75th percentile 76
Needed a price change
Sold listings that had a recorded price change before close
6 of 13 sold homes had at least one price change while listed. Lower = sellers are pricing right the first time.
Sales by price band
Closed-price bucket → sold count and median days to contract
Top subdivisions this month
Ranked by closed count
- 1. Prospector Hill 1 sold · $1,700K
- 2. Crestview Estates 1 sold · $1,345K
- 3. Tate 1 sold · $1,250K · 5d
- 4. Riviera Heights #8 1 sold · $1,200K
- 5. Top Of The World 1 sold · $1,165K
August 2026 by property type
How each housing type performed last month — 10 closings total across subtypes.
Summary Statistics
| Metric | Aug-26 | Aug-25 | % Chg | 2026 YTD | 2025 YTD | % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sold Count | 13 | 32 | -59.38% | 151 | 197 | -23.35% |
| Median Sale Price | $813,500 | $860,000 | -5.41% | $800,918 | $803,653 | -0.34% |
| Median DOM | 39 | 31 | +25.81% | 27 | 16 | +68.75% |
| Sale-to-List Ratio | 97.23% | 97.73% | -0.51% | 98.75% | 98.88% | -0.13% |
Sources: UtahRealEstate.com and the Washington County Board of Realtors, aggregated by Best Utah Real Estate. Sale-to-list ratio compares closing price to the final list price (post-reduction). Absorption rate = active inventory ÷ monthly sold rate.