A buyer shopping for a Scottsdale townhouse this October has more room to negotiate than a buyer shopping for a single-family home in the same city. The citywide numbers point the other way. Scottsdale REALTORS' August 2026 market report labels Scottsdale a seller's market. It puts the median sold price at $882,500, up 11.06% from a year earlier, across houses, condos, townhouses and apartments combined.
Split the August 2026 data by property type and the city turns into two markets heading in opposite directions. Single-family homes got scarcer and more expensive. Condos and townhouses picked up inventory, sat on the market longer, and closed further below asking. Whether you are buying or selling, the useful question this season is which of those two markets your property sits in.
The friction shows up first in the condo and townhouse segment. Phoenix REALTORS' ARMLS FastStats for Scottsdale show these homes took a median of 111 days to sell in August 2026, up from 98 days in August 2025. Sellers received 96.1% of list price, down from 96.9%. On a $440,000 condo, eight-tenths of a percentage point is about $3,500. That is small next to the purchase price but meaningful in a negotiation, and it comes on top of a longer wait.
The same table explains the drift. New condo and townhouse listings rose 9.2% year over year in August while pending sales fell 31.2%. Inventory grew from 842 to 896 homes, and months of supply rose from 4.6 to 5.1. More homes are competing for fewer contracts.
Single-family homes moved the other way during the same month:
| August 2026 vs. August 2025 | Single-family | Townhouse/condo |
|---|---|---|
| New listings | Down 5.9% | Up 9.2% |
| Inventory | 1,284 to 1,156 | 842 to 896 |
| Months of supply | 3.9 to 3.2 | 4.6 to 5.1 |
| Days on market until sale | 82 to 84 | 98 to 111 |
| Median sales price | $1,017,500 to $1,149,000 | $449,950 to $440,000 |
| Percent of list price received | 95.7% to 96.3% | 96.9% to 96.1% |
Single-family homes went from 3.9 months of supply to 3.2, the tighter end of the range. Condos and townhouses went from 4.6 to 5.1. Sellers of single-family homes are closing closer to asking than they were a year ago, and condo sellers are closing further from it.
FastStats notes that its sales price and percent-of-list figures do not account for seller concessions or down-payment assistance. That means the condo discount in the table could understate what buyers are actually getting. Credits toward closing costs don't show up in the sale price. If you are buying a condo, ask about concessions as directly as you ask about price.
If Scottsdale's median sold price rose 11.06% in a year, it's reasonable to assume a typical home gained about that much. The RPR report's own figures argue otherwise. Its modeled median property value for Scottsdale rose just 1.57% over the 12 months ending August 31, 2026. The median list price on active homes fell 6.75%, to $899,900. Median price per square foot rose from $397 in August 2025 to $417 in August 2026, about 5%.
Several measures can be true at once. The median sold price jumped about 11%, price per square foot rose about 5%, and the modeled value of the typical property barely moved. When the median rises faster than per-square-foot pricing and modeled values, the likely explanation is a change in which homes sold. The data points toward bigger and more expensive homes making up more of the closings. The FastStats single-family numbers show the same pattern: the average sale price rose 16.8% in August, faster than the 12.9% rise in the median. When the average outpaces the median, the top of the market is pulling upward.
Tina Tamboer, senior housing analyst with the Cromford Report, described this dynamic for the broader Valley at the start of the year. In a January 2026 AZ Big Media outlook, she said the luxury segment, now tied more to the stock market than to mortgage rates, continues to buoy median sales prices. She also said condos have struggled where single-family homes offer more space for similar prices. Her comments covered the whole region, not Scottsdale alone. Scottsdale's August split looks the way her description would predict.
For a buyer, the headline median tells you little about the house or condo you are considering. The sales of comparable homes in the same property type and price range tell you much more. Our guide on how to read a Phoenix real estate market report covers how to break a market report down along those lines.
For single-family buyers, the August numbers point to a firmer negotiating position for sellers than a year ago. Single-family inventory in Scottsdale fell 10% year over year. Sellers received 96.3% of list price, up from 95.7%. Through August 2026, closed single-family sales were up 11.6% for the year and the year-to-date median reached $1,250,000, up 4.6% from $1,195,000.
Single-family homes aren't selling fast, though. Year-to-date days on market until sale rose from 78 to 83. The RPR report's longer view shows how much the pace has changed. Median days in RPR for all Scottsdale residential sales were 18 in August 2021, 48 in August 2024, 60 in August 2025 and 70 in August 2026. Buyers of houses still have time to inspect, compare and negotiate. What they have less of than last year is choice.
Sellers face a different math on each side of the split. A homeowner listing a single-family home this fall competes with fewer similar listings than a year ago. A condo owner competes with more. For sellers weighing timing, our Scottsdale home seller timeline explains how those weeks on market factor into a listing plan.
The tables above describe closings. Closings reflect contracts written weeks earlier. Contract activity told a different story in August.
Across metro Phoenix, only 3,382 homes went under contract in August 2026. AZ Big Media reported that this was the lowest monthly pending count since January 2009. Scottsdale followed the same pattern. Single-family pending sales fell 36.6% year over year in August, from 317 to 201, while closed sales fell only 3.8%. AZ Big Media also noted that fewer sellers listed homes in August, which helped keep inventory balanced, and that activity typically picks up slightly in September and October.
The tight single-family supply was measured in a month when buyers had pulled back sharply. If those buyers come back in fall, the shortage gets tighter. If contract activity stays slow, the August closing data will overstate how competitive houses really are. ARMLS releases its monthly statistics in mid-month, covering the prior month. The September report will show which way it went. Until then, the closing numbers above are about two months behind the contracts buyers are signing now.
Two named projects are adding condo supply in north Scottsdale over the coming years. Neither had delivered resale inventory as of the most recent reporting.
Neither project explains today's resale condo inventory, but they matter for long-term planning. A buyer considering an older Scottsdale condo as a hold-for-years property is buying into a segment that is gaining resale supply now and will gain new-construction supply later. Strong presales at Atavia also show that demand for well-located, newly built attached homes exists even while resale condos sit longer. For owners thinking about a seasonal or low-maintenance setup, our post on lock-and-leave living in Scottsdale covers what that ownership model involves.
Is Scottsdale a seller's market right now? The Scottsdale REALTORS August 2026 report calls it one, based on all property types combined and 4.02 months of inventory. By property type, single-family homes sat at 3.2 months of supply and condos and townhouses at 5.1 in August. The label fits houses better than condos.
Why do different sources give different Scottsdale medians? They measure different groups of homes. The $882,500 RPR figure covers all residential sales in August 2026. The $1,149,000 FastStats figure covers single-family homes for that month. The $1,250,000 figure covers single-family homes year to date through August. None of them contradict each other.
Are concessions included in these sale prices? No. FastStats says its price and list-price-received figures do not account for seller concessions or down-payment assistance. Buyers should account for concessions separately when comparing deals. For a full picture of buyer-side costs, see our Scottsdale buyer closing costs guide.
When will newer data be out? ARMLS publishes its monthly statistics in mid-month, so September 2026 figures should arrive in mid-October.
Whether you are pricing a Scottsdale condo against more competing listings or bidding on a house in a thinner market, the comparable sales that matter are the ones in your property type. The team at Lilly Keating can run that analysis for your specific home or search. Start with a free home valuation or schedule a consultation to see where your property sits in this fall's split.
Real estate is more than a purchase— it’s a foundation for your future. Buy, sell, and invest with purpose, building generational wealth that endures. The choices you make today shape a legacy that stands the test of time.
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