Montgomery County MD Housing Market July 2026: $656K Median, Inventory Up 18.8%

Key Takeaways: The Montgomery County median sold price was $656,000 in July 2026 (Bright MLS) — down 0.6% year over year. Homes sold in a median of 15 days, three days slower than last July. Active listings rose 18.8% to 2,070, and months of supply climbed to 2.51. Showings fell 7.1%. Two months ago this county led the entire DC Metro in appreciation at +6.5%. That's no longer the case.

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I want to be direct about what changed here, because it's a real reversal.

In May, Montgomery County posted the strongest year-over-year price appreciation of any major jurisdiction in the DC Metro: +6.5%, a $693,500 median, and homes going to contract in eight days. I wrote at the time that inventory was finally rebuilding but the county was still a pressure cooker.

In July, the median is $656,000 and the year-over-year change is negative 0.6%. Days on market nearly doubled to 15. Inventory is up 18.8%.

That is not a collapse — the county's fundamentals are intact and the year-to-date numbers are still fine. But it is a genuine change in conditions, and if you're pricing a home this month using spring comparables, you will be wrong.

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Montgomery County July 2026 Market Snapshot

Metric	July 2026	Year-over-Year Change
Closed Sales	944	−0.4%
Median Sales Price	$656,000	−0.6%
Median Days on Market	15 days	+3 days
New Pending Sales	831	−4.0%
New Listings	961	+5.1%
Active Listings	2,070	+18.8%
Months of Supply	2.51	+0.33 months
Showings	17,763	−7.1%

Source: Bright MLS, July 2026, Montgomery County, MD. Data as of August 6, 2026.

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$656,000: The First Negative Year-over-Year Print in Three Years

A −0.6% year-over-year change is, statistically, a flat market. It is not a decline in any meaningful sense — it's noise around zero. But it matters because of where it comes from.

Montgomery County spent the last three years posting steady, sometimes strong, appreciation. Buyers priced that expectation into their offers and sellers priced it into their listings. July's number breaks that streak.

The likely driver is mix rather than depreciation. Closed sales fell only 0.4%, but the composition of what closed shifted — the higher-end segment slowed regionally in July, and Montgomery County has a lot of higher-end product. When fewer $1M+ homes settle in a given month, the county median falls even if no individual home lost value.

The practical read: your home probably hasn't lost value. But the market will no longer forgive an aspirational list price the way it did in April.

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Inventory Up 18.8% — The Buyer's Side of the Ledger

Active listings hit 2,070, up from 1,742 a year ago. That's the largest year-over-year inventory build Montgomery County has posted in this cycle, and it came from both directions: new listings rose 5.1% while new pending sales fell 4.0%.

Months of supply moved from 2.18 to 2.51.

I'll repeat the caveat I put in the metro report: 2.51 months is still a seller's market. Balanced is 4–6. A buyer walking into Montgomery County today is not walking into a market of desperate sellers.

What has changed is choice. A buyer searching a specific price band and school cluster who had three options in April now has four or five. That single fact — more options — is what converts a market from "write your best offer immediately" to "you can afford to think about this one overnight."

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15 Days on Market: The Clock Slowed Down

Median days on market went from 8 in May to 15 in July, and from 12 in July 2025 to 15 this year.

Some of that is seasonal. The DMV always slows between the spring rush and Labor Day. But the year-over-year comparison strips seasonality out, and it still shows a three-day increase.

Fifteen days is still fast. Nationally, this would be considered a hot market. But it means the specific dynamic that defined Montgomery County this spring — list Thursday, showings all weekend, offers Monday, done — is no longer automatic. Homes that are priced right and presented well still do that. Homes that aren't now take a month.

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Showings Down 7.1% — Where the Demand Went

Montgomery County showings fell 7.1% year over year to 17,763.

This is worth putting in regional context, because Montgomery's decline was middle-of-the-pack:

Jurisdiction	Showings YoY	New Pendings YoY
Frederick County, MD	+8.7%	+8.9%
Prince George's County, MD	+4.1%	+2.1%
Fairfax County, VA	+1.7%	−2.3%
Montgomery County, MD	−7.1%	−4.0%
Loudoun County, VA	−12.9%	−7.4%
Washington, DC	−14.3%	−8.6%
Arlington County, VA	−16.9%	−7.8%
Alexandria City, VA	−32.2%	−32.0%

Source: Bright MLS, July 2026 Local Markets data

The pattern across the region is affordability-driven: Frederick and Prince George's, the two most affordable jurisdictions, gained demand. The expensive inner jurisdictions lost it. Montgomery County sits in the middle of the price range and, accordingly, in the middle of the demand shift.

Bright's read on this is that discretionary buyers — the ones who were shopping because it seemed like a good time, not because they needed to move — have stepped back as rates stayed in the mid-to-high 6s. The buyers still out looking are the ones with an actual reason to move, and they are still transacting.

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Montgomery County vs. the Region

Market	Median Price	YoY	DOM	Months of Supply
Arlington County, VA	$823,000	+15.9%	13 days	2.49
Loudoun County, VA	$813,000	+7.4%	13 days	1.96
Fairfax County, VA	$755,448	−1.2%	10 days	2.01
Alexandria City, VA	$710,000	+3.6%	12 days	2.43
Washington, DC	$672,500	−0.4%	30 days	5.05
Montgomery County, MD	$656,000	−0.6%	15 days	2.51
Frederick County, MD	$512,500	+2.5%	14 days	2.47
Prince George's County, MD	$449,000	+0.2%	22 days	3.25
DC Metro overall	$650,000	+1.6%	15 days	2.75

Source: Bright MLS, July 2026 Local Markets data

Montgomery County is now tracking the metro almost exactly — same days on market, median within $6,000, similar supply. For a county that outperformed the region all spring, converging back to the average is itself the news.

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What This Means for Montgomery County by Situation

You're selling a single-family detached home in Bethesda, Chevy Chase, or Potomac: Regionally, detached single-family is still the strongest segment — 2.23 months of supply and 11 days to contract. Your position is better than the county-wide numbers suggest. But the higher-end slowdown showed up in July, so expect a longer marketing period than a spring listing would have had, and price to the last 60 days of comparables rather than the last six months.

You're selling a townhome in Rockville, Germantown, or Silver Spring: The regional townhome segment held steady — prices +1.3%, sales +2.6%, 13 days to contract. This is the most predictable segment in the county right now. Normal preparation, honest pricing, normal timeline.

You're selling a condo anywhere in the county: Read the regional condo numbers carefully before you set a price: 30 days on market, 4.21 months of supply, prices down 1.6% year over year, active listings up 23.7%. This segment has changed more than any other. Get the launch price right — the cost of a price reduction in this segment is now measured in weeks.

You're buying in Montgomery County: This is the best month to be a Montgomery County buyer since 2022. Inventory up 18.8%, competing buyers down, and the days-on-market clock slowed enough that you can see a house twice before deciding. Escalation clauses are still occasionally necessary in the tightest school clusters, but they are no longer the default. Ask for the inspection contingency.

You're deciding whether to wait: Waiting made sense as a bet on rates. It has not paid off for two years and Bright's outlook flags the possibility of rates rising further into the fall. Waiting for inventory, though, was the better bet — and that bet just paid. The improvement you were waiting for is here now.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average home price in Montgomery County in 2026?

The median sold price in Montgomery County was $656,000 in July 2026, down 0.6% from July 2025. That's below the May 2026 peak of $693,500, which reflects both normal seasonality and a slowdown in higher-end sales.

Are Montgomery County home prices falling in 2026?

The July median was down 0.6% year over year, which is statistically flat rather than a decline. Closed sales were also nearly flat at −0.4%. The more meaningful change is on the supply side: active listings are up 18.8% and months of supply rose to 2.51. That's a market rebalancing, not prices falling.

How fast are homes selling in Montgomery County?

The median was 15 days from list to contract in July 2026 — three days slower than July 2025 and nearly double the eight days recorded in May 2026. Well-priced homes in strong school clusters still go under contract in the first week.

Is it still a seller's market in Montgomery County?

Yes, but a softer one. At 2.51 months of supply, the county remains in seller's market territory (4–6 months is balanced). Sellers still hold the advantage on detached single-family homes. The condo segment is the exception — regionally that segment is at 4.21 months and effectively balanced.

Why did Montgomery County go from the strongest market in the region to flat?

Two months ago Montgomery County led the DC Metro at +6.5% year-over-year appreciation. The July reversal is driven mainly by mix — the higher-end segment slowed across the region in July, and Montgomery County has a large share of higher-priced inventory. Fewer high-end settlements pull the median down without individual homes losing value.

Is now a good time to buy in Montgomery County?

For buyers, July 2026 offers the most favorable conditions in roughly three years: 18.8% more active listings, 7.1% fewer showings from competing buyers, and a slower decision clock. Mortgage rates remain the constraint — the 30-year fixed is still in the mid-to-high 6% range (Freddie Mac PMMS), with the possibility of rising further this fall.

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Related July 2026 Market Reports

• DC Metro housing market — July 2026 — full regional report with property-type breakdown
• Northern Virginia housing market — July 2026 — Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun, Alexandria
• Washington DC housing market — July 2026 — the region's most balanced market
• Montgomery County housing market — May 2026 — the peak month, for comparison
• Should I sell my home in 2026? — seller decision framework
• Is now a good time to buy? — buyer decision framework

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What I'm Seeing on the Ground

The gap between how sellers think this market feels and how it actually behaves is the widest it's been in years. Sellers still have the spring in their heads — the neighbor who got five offers in April, the listing that went $40,000 over ask. That market ended in June.

What I'm doing differently with July and August listings: pricing to the most recent 60 days rather than the spring run-up, budgeting for a three-to-four week marketing period instead of one weekend, and being much more deliberate about pre-list preparation. Homes that are genuinely ready still sell fast. Homes that are "close enough" now sit.

On the buy side, my clients are having a noticeably easier time. Fewer competing offers, more houses to compare, and contingencies back on the table.

If you want to know where your specific home or search sits in this market — Bethesda to Germantown, detached to condo — I'll give you the straight version.

Get in touch →