A Stronger Month for Sales as Buyers Take Their Time and Cash Returns to the Market
September brought a healthy burst of activity to the Sunriver real estate market. Fourteen homes sold during the month, the strongest sales count since July and those transactions generated nearly $12.7 million in sales volume.
There was also a noticeable change in who was buying. After financed purchases dominated August, cash buyers accounted for nine of September’s 14 sales. Meanwhile, inventory remained remarkably steady. Sunriver finished September with 47 homes for sale, compared with 49 in August and 44 in July.
So, there are buyers in the market and a reasonable selection of homes available. What has changed is how long some properties are taking to find those buyers.
A $860,000 Median Sale Price
The median sale price settled at $860,000 in September, down from $972,500 in August.
That may sound like a sizable monthly move but Sunriver is a market where the mix of homes sold can swing the median considerably. So far this year, monthly median prices have ranged from $747,450 to $1,210,500. Through September, the average of the monthly median prices is about $916,700. September was below that mark but the median price per square foot remained remarkably steady at $435, compared with $438 in August.
That three-dollar difference is a good reminder not to judge the direction of the market solely by the median sale price.
Sales Picked Up
September's 14 closed sales were a nice upward improvement from the 10 recorded in August and just above July's 13 sales. Even better, September produced $12,692,500 in total sales volume, the highest monthly volume so far in 2026. Through the first nine months of the year, Sunriver has recorded 89 sales totaling just under $83.8 million.
For a market increasingly giving buyers time to shop and compare, creating a substantial amount of activity.
Some Long-Time Listings Finally Found Buyers
September also cleared some well seasoned inventory off the market. Seven of the homes that sold had accumulated a combined 1,250 days on market. That's an average of nearly six months each, although averages don't tell us how those days were distributed among the individual properties. What it does tell us is that buyers eventually found success in selling their homes that had been sitting.
That’s encouraging for sellers with longer-running listings, but it also reinforces the importance of adjusting to market feedback. A home can sell after an extended time on the market, but price, condition and terms may need to evolve before the right buyer comes along.
Market Time Jumped to 99.5 Days
The median days on market reached 99.5 days in September, up from 56 in August. That is a significant change from earlier in the year. From January through July, Sunriver's monthly median market time ranged from just 10 to 22 days. August climbed to 56, followed by September's 99.5 days. Some of that September number is undoubtedly influenced by those long standing well seasoned listings that finally sold.
Still, the broader trend suggests buyers aren't feeling much urgency to rush into a purchase. They have enough choices to take their time, compare properties and negotiate.
And frankly, in a market as varied as Sunriver, that makes sense. Buyers may be comparing an original 1970s or '80s vacation home with a substantially remodeled property or even something much newer. The price differences can be significant, and condition matters.
Cash Buyers Came Back in a Big Way
September looked very different from August when it came to financing. In August, eight of the ten purchases were financed and only two were cash. September flipped that script. Of the 14 sales, nine were cash and five were financed, meaning roughly 64% of September purchases were cash transactions.
Cash has always been an important part of the Sunriver market, particularly with second home and vacation-property buyers, but the month-to-month swings this year show that financed buyers remain very much in the mix as well.
Sellers Are Making Deals
September's pricing numbers also show buyers had room to negotiate. Homes sold for 91.78% of their original list price and 95.61% of the list price at the time of sale. Both figures improved from August, when homes closed at 88.01% of original list price and 90.47% of final list price.
So while buyers were still negotiating, sellers were getting closer to their asking prices than they did the previous month. While others found giving a little meant success in getting their home sold. This is evident with the $51,250 in seller concessions spread across five transactions. That means more than a third of September's sales included some form of seller contribution. Concessions can take several forms depending on the transaction but their presence is another sign that sellers are willing to work with buyers to get deals across the finish line.
Inventory Remains Pretty Steady
Sunriver ended September with 47 active listings, down slightly from 49 in August. There were 52 active listings each month from January through June, followed by 44 in July, 49 in August and 47 in September. This shows a remarkably stable market where we aren't seeing inventory pile up dramatically despite longer market times.
Based simply on September's 14 sales against 47 active listings, that's about 3.4 months of inventory at the September sales pace, down from approximately 4.9 months based on August activity.
That's a meaningful difference and another reason September shouldn't simply be characterized as a slow market because days on market increased.
More homes actually sold.
What Does September Mean for Buyers?
Buyers continue to have something that was pretty scarce a few years ago: time to make a decision.
There are nearly 50 homes available, market times have lengthened and both the list to sale ratios and seller concessions show there can be room for negotiation. That doesn't necessarily mean throwing a low offer at every property. A home that's newly listed, nicely updated and priced appropriately is a very different situation from one that's been sitting for six months, buyers should make sure they are doing their homework. Sunriver homes can vary tremendously in age, updates, location, rental history, condition and proximity to amenities. Those differences deserve more consideration than simply looking at the neighborhood's median price.
What Does September Mean for Sellers?
Fourteen sales and nearly $12.7 million in monthly volume tell us buyers haven't disappeared but they're clearly discriminating between properties. The fact that seven long time listings finally sold is encouraging, although it also suggests patience may be required when the initial price doesn't connect with the market.
September's 95.61% final-list-to-sale ratio was considerably stronger than August's 90.47%, so homes are getting closer to asking price when buyers decide to move forward.
For sellers heading into fall, I think the takeaway is fairly straightforward: you don't necessarily need to be the cheapest home but you do need to make sense compared with the alternatives.
Condition, updates, location and price all have to work together.
The Bottom Line
September was actually a pretty solid month for Sunriver.
The median sale price came in at $860,000, 14 homes sold, sales volume reached $12,692,500 and inventory remained stable at 47 homes. At the same time, median market time increased to 99.5 days, five transactions included a combined $51,250 in seller concessions and buyers continued to negotiate below asking price.
That's a market with a little something for both sides. Buyers have choices, time and some negotiating leverage. Sellers still have an active pool of buyers and September proved that even homes that have been waiting quite a while can eventually find the right one.
As we head further into fall, lets be watching whether Sunriver's sales pace holds up, whether inventory begins its typical seasonal decline and whether those longer market times start working their way back down.
If you're considering buying or selling in Sunriver, I'm always happy to dig past the neighborhood averages and look at the homes that actually compete with yours. In a community with as much variety as Sunriver, that's where the numbers become genuinely useful.
