Market analytics · July 2026 archive
Vernal, 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
July 2026 · Market Analysis
Vernal's July closings slow to 40 days as luxury sales reshape the price picture
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After June's unusually fast 8-day median, Vernal's July closings settled back to a 40-day pace — a more typical rhythm for the Uintah Basin, but a meaningful shift from the sprint that defined last month. Only 16 homes closed in July, down from 17 in June and well below last July's 30 closings, so the numbers here reflect a thin slice of the market rather than a broad trend. What makes July stand out is the mix: three homes above $700,000 closed — including a sale in Hidden Hollow at $882,000 and one in Sawtooth Park PUD Sub at $1,375,000 — pulling the median sale price to $380,750, the highest reading since January's $390,000.
Market pulse
Median days on market in Vernal has been one of the most volatile readings in the Uintah Basin this year: 25 days in February, 75 in March, 15 in April, 59 in May, 8 in June, and now 40 in July. The June sprint was real but short-lived — July's 40-day figure is actually close to last July's 34-day pace, suggesting the market has normalized rather than slowed dramatically. Active inventory reached 116 homes in July, up from 105 in June and 91 in May, meaning more choices for buyers but fewer competing offers for sellers. The sale-to-list ratio recovered to 95.27% from June's 91.14% low, a sign that the deep discounting of last month eased — though 11 of 16 closings still came in below asking price.
Mortgage context
The 30-year fixed rate has climbed steadily since February's 6.14% average, reaching 6.79% in July and now sitting at 6.875% — a 0.74 percentage-point climb over roughly six months. That trajectory matters in a market like Vernal where most buyers are financing in the under-$400K range; every quarter-point adds real friction for households tied to energy-sector wages. The 30-day move of 0.125 percentage points is modest on its own, but it lands on top of a rate that's already near a six-month high, keeping affordability tight heading into fall.
Payment math
Financing a $381,000 home in Vernal with 20% down puts the monthly principal-and-interest payment at $2,001 at today's 6.875% rate — $25 more than 30 days ago when the rate was 6.75%, and $147 above the February low when rates averaged 6.14% and that same loan would have run $1,854 a month.
If you're buying
With 116 active listings and only 16 closings last month, buyers have real negotiating room — at the current pace it would take about seven months to sell every home currently listed. Focus on homes that have been sitting past 50 days; the upper quartile of days on market in July was 56 days, and sellers in that range have already shown willingness to negotiate. Mayfair Meadows Subdivision closed at $505,000 in just 20 days, so well-priced, move-in-ready homes still move — but anything priced to last spring's expectations is where you'll find the most flexibility.
If you're selling
The luxury end of the market — Hidden Hollow and Sawtooth Park PUD Sub — closed in July, but those are one-off transactions that won't set the tone for typical Vernal resale. If your home is in the under-$400K range, price it within 3% of recent comparable sales; nine of the month's 16 closings were in that band, and they still averaged 40 days on market. Seven of 16 July closings involved a price reduction before closing, so sellers who start too high are losing time and leverage — price it right from day one rather than chasing the market down.
Outlook
With 116 active listings and new listings running at 38 in July, the supply side isn't tightening heading into fall. Rates near 6.875% will continue to limit the pool of qualified buyers in a market where most transactions happen below $400,000, and the energy-sector employment base in the Uintah Basin doesn't provide the same rate-insensitive buyer pool you'd find along the Wasatch Front. Expect closing volume to stay in the 15–25 range per month through September, with days on market likely holding in the 35–50 day window absent a meaningful rate drop.
Watch for
If new listings continue running above 38 per month while closings stay near 16, active inventory could cross 130 homes by September — at that point the sale-to-list ratio would likely drift back toward the low-93% range seen in December.
"Fewer deals, longer waits, higher prices — July's mix tells a complicated story for Uintah Basin buyers."
Common questions about Vernal this month
Is Vernal a buyer's or seller's market in July 2026? ▾
It's a buyer's market by most measures. With 116 active listings and only 16 closings in July, there's roughly seven months of supply on hand — well above the four-to-five months that typically signals a balanced market. Eleven of those 16 closings came in below asking price, confirming that buyers have real room to negotiate.
Why did Vernal's median sale price jump in July if the market is slow? ▾
Three homes above $700,000 closed in July, including a sale in Hidden Hollow at $882,000 and one in Sawtooth Park PUD Sub at $1,375,000. With only 16 total closings, those high-end transactions pulled the median to $380,750. The under-$400K segment — where most buyers shop — had a median sale price of $238,000, so the headline number overstates what a typical buyer is paying.
How long are homes sitting on the market in Vernal right now? ▾
The median was 40 days in July, which is close to last July's 34-day pace and more representative than June's unusual 8-day reading. A quarter of homes took longer than 56 days to close, so if a listing has been sitting past that mark, the seller is likely open to a real conversation on price.
How do current mortgage rates affect buying a home in Vernal? ▾
At 6.875%, financing a median-priced home with 20% down runs about $2,001 a month in principal and interest. That's $147 more per month than buyers faced in February when rates averaged 6.14%. For buyers targeting the under-$400K range that dominates Vernal's market, that added cost is meaningful against local wage levels tied to the Uintah Basin's oil and gas economy.
Are price reductions common in Vernal right now? ▾
Yes — 7 of the 16 homes that closed in July had a price reduction before going under contract. That's nearly half of all closings. Sellers who start at an optimistic price are finding they need to adjust; homes in Cottonwood Heights Subd and Mayfair Meadows Subdivision that were priced competitively from the start moved in 20–59 days without the same pressure.
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
July 2026 cohort breakdown
Distribution of what closed last month — by price band, sale-vs-list outcome, and top subdivisions.
How sales priced vs asking
16 sold homes that had a list price recorded
Days on market spread
Quartile distribution
Median 40 · 25th percentile 23 · 75th percentile 56
Needed a price change
Sold listings that had a recorded price change before close
7 of 16 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. Sawtooth Park Pud Sub 1 sold · $1,375K
- 2. Hidden Hollow 1 sold · $882K
- 3. Cottonwood Heights Subd 1 sold · $640K · 59d
- 4. Mayfair Meadows Subdivision 1 sold · $505K · 20d
- 5. Freestone Addition 1 sold · $429K
July 2026 by property type
How each housing type performed last month — 11 closings total across subtypes.
Summary Statistics
| Metric | Jul-26 | Jul-25 | % Chg | 2026 YTD | 2025 YTD | % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sold Count | 16 | 30 | -46.67% | 164 | 188 | -12.77% |
| Median Sale Price | $380,750 | $310,000 | +22.82% | $349,982 | $330,628 | +5.85% |
| Median DOM | 40 | 34 | +17.65% | 44 | 36 | +22.22% |
| Sale-to-List Ratio | 95.27% | 95.91% | -0.67% | 97.00% | 97.18% | -0.19% |
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.