Market analytics
Orem, 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
Orem homes sat 53 days in August as buyers gained the upper hand
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The defining shift in Orem this August was how long homes sat before closing. The median days on market jumped to 53 — more than double May's 16-day pace and well above the 24 days recorded in August 2025. That reversal tells the clearest story of the month: the urgency that defined spring has faded, and sellers who priced for that faster market are now waiting. With 36 closings against 240 active listings, buyers have more room to negotiate than at any point this year.
Market pulse
The speed story is the sharpest trend of the past six months. Median days on market compressed from 44 in February to just 16 in May, then reversed: 18 in June, 21 in July, and now 53 in August. The upper quartile tells the same story — a quarter of homes took longer than 68 days to close this month, compared to 43 days in May. Active inventory kept climbing too, reaching 240 in August after moving from 115 in March through 167 in May and 201 in July. Meanwhile, the sale-to-list ratio slipped to 98.03% — its softest reading since November 2025 — and 18 of the 36 closings involved a prior price reduction, a sign that sellers who held firm on price often had to adjust before finding a buyer.
Mortgage context
The 30-year fixed rate has climbed steadily since February's 6.14% monthly average, moving through 6.48% in March, 6.55% in May, and 6.79% in July before settling at a 6.77% average in August. At the current spot rate of 6.875% — up 0.125 percentage points over the past 30 days — the monthly payment on a median Orem home has risen meaningfully from where it stood earlier this year, keeping some buyers on the sidelines and reinforcing the slower pace of closings.
Payment math
A $548,000 median-priced Orem home financed with 20% down carries a monthly principal-and-interest payment of $2,877 at today's 6.875% rate — $36 more than 30 days ago at 6.75%, and $211 above the February low when rates averaged 6.14% and that same loan would have run $2,666 a month.
If you're buying
Target listings that have been on the market past 50 days — at August's 98.03% sale-to-list ratio, stale inventory is where the real negotiating happens. In the Ridge subdivision, three homes closed at a median of $561,500 after a median 41 days on market, which gives you a concrete benchmark for what similar homes are actually selling for versus what sellers are asking. Buyers priced out of Orem's $500K-plus range may also find better value in nearby Provo or Lehi, where the BYU-area and Silicon Slopes corridors create different supply conditions worth comparing.
If you're selling
Price to where homes are closing, not where they were closing in May. The median sold price of $547,500 sits above the median list price of $518,500, but that gap reflects a mix of homes — sellers who priced right from the start are still closing near or above ask, while those who stretched are sitting. In Lakeview, two homes closed at a median of $470,000 after 64 days on market, a useful data point if your home is in that area and you're tempted to push the price. Condition and first-week pricing matter more now than at any point this year.
Outlook
With 240 active listings and only 36 closings in August, it would take roughly 6.7 months to sell through current inventory at this pace — a meaningful shift from the 2-to-3-month range that held from fall 2025 through spring 2026. As BYU's fall semester draws students and faculty back to the area, some demand typically returns to the Provo-Orem corridor in September, but rates near 6.875% will limit how much that seasonal lift translates into closings. Sellers who adjust pricing now, before the market moves further into fall, are better positioned than those waiting for a rate drop that isn't clearly on the near-term horizon.
Watch for
At the current pace of new listings running above 80 per month against fewer than 40 closings, active inventory likely crosses 270 homes by October — and if that happens, the sale-to-list ratio probably drifts toward the mid-97% range, giving buyers even more room to negotiate below asking price.
"August's slowdown is real: homes took more than twice as long to sell as they did in May, and buyers know it."
Common questions about Orem this month
Is Orem a buyer's or seller's market in August 2026? ▾
August tilted clearly toward buyers. With 240 active listings and only 36 closings, there's roughly 6.7 months of supply on the market — well above the 2-to-3-month range that favored sellers earlier this year. The median days on market reached 53, and half of closings involved homes that sold below list price.
Why did homes take so much longer to sell in August than in the spring? ▾
Two forces converged: inventory kept building while buyer demand pulled back. Active listings climbed from 115 in March to 240 in August, meaning more competition among sellers. At the same time, the 30-year rate moved from 6.14% in February to 6.77% on average in August, raising monthly payments and reducing the pool of buyers who can qualify at current prices.
Are Orem home prices dropping? ▾
The median sale price in August was $547,500, up from $500,000 in both June and July. However, 18 of the 36 closings involved a prior price reduction, which means many sellers had to cut their asking price before finding a buyer. The active shelf — with a median list price of $518,500 — is priced below what's actually closing, suggesting the homes that sell are the ones priced competitively from the start.
Which Orem neighborhoods are still moving homes in August? ▾
Ridge was the most active subdivision, with 3 closings at a median of $561,500 and a median 41 days on market. Lakeview had 2 closings at a median of $470,000, though those took a median 64 days. Both neighborhoods have appeared consistently in the monthly top-five list, making recent comparable sales there a reliable benchmark for pricing.
Should I wait for rates to drop before buying in Orem? ▾
The 30-year rate has moved from 6.14% in February to 6.875% today — a 0.74-percentage-point climb that added $211 to the monthly principal-and-interest payment on a median-priced home. Whether rates fall meaningfully in the next 90 days is uncertain, but what is clear is that August's slower market gives buyers more negotiating room than they've had all year. Homes sitting past 50 days are where sellers are most willing to deal.
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
37 sold homes that had a list price recorded
Days on market spread
Quartile distribution
Median 51 · 25th percentile 20 · 75th percentile 67
Needed a price change
Sold listings that had a recorded price change before close
18 of 37 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. Ridge 3 sold · $562K · 41d
- 2. Lakeview 2 sold · $470K · 64d
- 3. Belmont East 1 sold · $1,325K · 49d
- 4. Legacy At Ercanbrack Farms 1 sold · $1,020K · 57d
- 5. Breton Woods 1 sold · $966K
August 2026 by property type
How each housing type performed last month — 33 closings total across subtypes.
Summary Statistics
| Metric | Aug-26 | Aug-25 | % Chg | 2026 YTD | 2025 YTD | % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sold Count | 37 | 60 | -38.33% | 366 | 406 | -9.85% |
| Median Sale Price | $550,000 | $514,875 | +6.82% | $509,862 | $509,897 | -0.01% |
| Median DOM | 51 | 24 | +112.50% | 31 | 25 | +24.00% |
| Sale-to-List Ratio | 98.02% | 98.36% | -0.35% | 98.46% | 98.88% | -0.42% |
Past months
Browse historical Orem reports — each month's snapshot stays at its own permanent URL.
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.