Catch up on previous editions:
Sales Slide a Second Month — and Rates Break 7%
Last month we tried to focus on the positive: year-to-date, 2026 was still running ahead of 2025. That remains true. But there is no denying the obvious any longer — sales are sliding. Combined Chelan and Douglas dollar volume has fallen in each of the last two months, from $135.5 million in June to $118.9 million in July and $92.9 million in August, and the chart below shows the shape of it. Interest rates are not helping. Freddie Mac’s 30-year fixed averaged 7.28% on October 1, the highest since November 2023 and a sixth consecutive weekly increase, up from 6.66% at the end of August and 6.34% a year ago. The August figures that follow describe a market that had not yet felt that move. The transactions closing this fall will.
Rolling 12-Month SFR Dollar Volume by Region
The chart below tracks rolling twelve-month dollar volume for each of the four local markets. The combined Chelan/Douglas line sets the overall shape, with the Wenatchee market running beneath it and accounting for most of the total; the Lake Chelan Valley and the Upper Valley sit closer together along the bottom, where smaller volumes make their lines swing more sharply. Three of the four peaked in June, the Lake Chelan Valley a month later, and all four have fallen since — the same shape as a year ago, when volume fell away from its summer peak into the fall.
Chelan/Douglas Counties
Month over month, August recorded 136 transactions against July’s 178, with dollar volume easing to $92.9 million from $118.9 million. A step down from July is normal as the summer selling season winds off, but this is the second consecutive monthly decline and the steeper of the two.
Chelan/Douglas August 2026 vs July 2026
Measured against the same month last year, August came in just below on volume — 136 transactions versus 141 (-3.5%) — while dollar volume still rose 1.5%, to $92.9 million from $91.5 million. This was the first month this summer that the local unit count slipped year over year. The average sale price climbed to roughly $683,000 from $649,000, reversing the shift toward the middle of the market seen in July.
Chelan/Douglas August 2026 vs August 2025
Taking the year as a whole, Chelan and Douglas counties remain ahead on both measures: 1,078 transactions versus 1,017 (+6.0%) and $705.1 million versus $650.3 million (+8.4%). Two softer months have not undone the first-half lead, and dollar volume continues to grow faster than unit count.
Chelan/Douglas August 2026 YTD vs August 2025 YTD
Financed activity remains the engine of the year’s gains. Through August, financed transactions rose to 803 from 716 a year ago (+12.2%), while cash deals eased to 275 from 301 (-8.6%). Financed buyers now account for 74.5% of the market, up from 70.4% a year ago — a meaningful shift in a region that has leaned heavily on cash since interest rates ramped up in 2022. August ran higher still: 104 of the month’s 136 sales were financed, or 76.5%. That is also the cohort most exposed to the rate move now under way.
Set against the wider market, that year-to-date position still stands out. Nationally, existing-home sales are up 1.6% through August; across Washington, closed sales are down about 3.0% on the same basis. The August gap was wider still — the statewide decline that month was 7.6%, against 3.5% here.
Other Than Single Family Home Sales
In addition to single-family residential, Chelan and Douglas counties recorded the following non-SFR activity in August 2026:
Exploring the Dynamic Wenatchee Market: From Entiat to Malaga, Rock Island to Orondo and West to Cashmere
Month over month, the Wenatchee count eased from 117 in July to 102 in August, and dollar volume from $69.09 million to $64.23 million — a milder step down than the two-county market as a whole.
Wenatchee August 2026 vs July 2026
Against August of last year, single-month sales rose 3.0% (102 versus 99) while dollar volume climbed 10.5% ($64.23 million versus $58.14 million). Financed buyers accounted for 78 of the month’s 102 transactions, or 76.5%.
Wenatchee August 2026 vs August 2025
Year-to-date, the Wenatchee market is well ahead of last year: 801 transactions versus 736 (+8.8%) and $477.1 million versus $417.2 million (+14.4%). Dollar volume is again growing well ahead of unit count — the widest gap of any local sub-market.
Wenatchee August 2026 YTD vs August 2025 YTD
The Chelan Market: Encompassing Manson and Stehekin
August was the Valley’s quietest month since February: 13 sales versus 16 a year ago (-18.8%) and $13.18 million versus $14.83 million (-11.1%). Coming directly after July’s 29 sales — the year’s strongest — the drop looks steep, but in a market this size a single month turns on a handful of transactions. Notably, 12 of the 13 August sales were financed.
Lake Chelan Valley August 2026 vs August 2025
Year-to-date through August, the Lake Chelan Valley is ahead on transaction count — 127 versus 114 (+11.4%) — while dollar volume is essentially flat at $120.4 million against $120.9 million (-0.5%). With the Valley’s smaller volumes, a handful of high-end transactions swings the dollar figures sharply.
Lake Chelan Valley August 2026 YTD vs August 2025 YTD
Exploring the Upper Valley Market: Insights from Dryden to Stevens Pass, Including Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee and Plain
Against August of last year, the corridor recorded 19 transactions versus 18, and $14.90 million versus $14.06 million — gains on both measures, and its third-strongest month of 2026 after June and July.
Upper Valley August 2026 vs August 2025
Year-to-date, the Upper Valley is slightly ahead of last year on count — 119 transactions versus 117 (+1.7%) — with dollar volume at $93.4 million against $97.5 million (-4.2%).
The corridor has been closing its gap steadily since a very weak first quarter, and August continued that pattern. Dollar volume still trails because 2025 carried a stronger run of high-end sales in July and the fall.
Upper Valley August 2026 YTD vs August 2025 YTD
