August was the slowest month for Tuscaloosa condos since April. 30 closed, against 39 in July and 76 back in May. The median came in at $294,950, right about where March, May and July landed. What changed was the shape of the month. The middle of the market, which had gone quiet in July, produced five closings. The top went quiet: the largest sale all month was $744,900, and for the first time since at least March nothing closed above $1,100,000. And with 36 contracts written against 30 closings, the $14.2 million still under contract heading into September is bigger than the $10.3 million that closed in August.
30
Closed in August
$294,950
Median sale
$744,900
Largest sale all month
125
For sale, September 1
What the headline says
$294,950
What a normal resale sold for
$278,200
Seven of the 30 sales were converted units at Watercress on 6th Avenue NE, every one closed at its full asking price or a hair above, between $289,900 and $320,000. Set those seven aside and the median for the other 23 sales was $278,200. Narrow it to entry-tier resales alone and the median is $231,450. Everywhere below, resale means a sale that is not one of those seven.
How long the listings would last at the current sales pace
Now the supply side
47 listed against about 269 sales a year. The tightest corner of the market. Seven of every ten August closings landed here, and about six of every ten over the past twelve months.
18 listed against about 88 sales a year. Five closings in August and five more under contract on September 1 mean this band has fresh comparable sales to price against, which it did not have a month ago.
61 listed against about 87 sales a year. Four sales cleared in August and six new premium listings arrived, four of them town homes on Almon Avenue at $1,300,000 to $1,400,000 listed the same day. Refilling faster than it clears.
Under 4 months of supply favors sellers, over 6 favors buyers. Based on 442 sales in the twelve months ending August 31, 2026 and the 125 condos listed as of September 1, 2026. MLS price bands share their edges, so the tiers sum slightly above those totals. All three tiers together come to 3.4 months.
What this means for you
If you are buying
- The move in rush is over, and the quiet season starts next month. October and November are usually when buyers set the pace rather than sellers. Standing inventory is 125 units, and sellers withdrew 12 listings during August after a median of 105 days unsold.
- Under $350,000, August is evidence you can negotiate. Not one of the 14 entry-tier resales that closed sold above asking. Eleven sold below it, at a median of 98.5 percent. Two months of supply still favors the seller, so this is not a market for a lowball.
- Between $350,000 and $650,000, there are comparable sales again. Five closings in August and five more under contract on September 1. The five closings were $350,000, $410,000, $429,900, $515,000 and $535,000, in five different buildings, which makes them a starting point for a valuation conversation rather than a substitute for one.
- Above $650,000 there is an estimated 8.4 months of supply, the most in any band. All four premium sales in August closed at or near asking: one under, two at, one above. Ask for the full status history on the specific unit and judge that listing on its own record.
If you are selling
- A new listing date resets the counter buyers see, not the price history. Of the seven listings that came back on the market in August, six returned at the same asking price and all six were still active on September 1. The one that returned $25,000 lower was under contract four days later. Buyers can pull the full history, so assume the one looking at your unit already has.
- Under $350,000 you are still where the buyers are, but price for a negotiation. 21 of the 30 sales landed here against 47 listings, and zero of the 14 resales got more than asking. Price so the first offer is a conversation rather than an insult.
- Above $650,000, do not read one quiet month as a verdict. Four sales and no seven-figure closing, yes. Also seven contracts written above $650,000 in the same month, including three town homes at Bryant Row that sat eleven months and then all went under contract in one week.
- Price off your own building, not the market median. August came in at $294,950 across everything, $278,200 with the Watercress conversions stripped out, and $231,450 for entry-tier resales alone. None of those three numbers tells you what your unit is worth.
The year so far
Six full months on one method
March 35 closings at a $284,000 median. April 27 at $485,000. May 76 at $302,500. June 44 at $379,950. July 39 at $278,500. August 30 at $294,950. Every month comes off the same search and the same method, so the rows compare cleanly with each other.
August was the second slowest of the six by count, ahead of only April’s 27, and the smallest of the six by dollars, at $10,270,550 against July’s $14,548,900 and May’s $35,739,300. It was also the month the median stopped swinging. That April reading did not mean the market appreciated 70 percent in thirty days. April had 27 sales and 14 of them closed at or above $485,000. August had 30 and 6 did. The median moves when the mix of what happens to close moves, and nothing else needs to have changed.
The median moves when the mix of what closes moves. Six months in, the through line is a median that swings with how many sales land above $350,000 in a given month.
Where the money actually went
The barbell filled in
21 of the 30 sales closed under $350,000, five landed between $350,000 and $650,000, and four cleared $650,000. If you have been trying to price a unit in the middle band this summer, you know how little there was to work with; the second half of July produced nothing there at all. August gave you five closings, at $350,000, $410,000, $429,900, $515,000 and $535,000, each in a different building, and two of those went to buyers who paid full asking price.
The top is the surprise. The four premium sales came in a tight cluster: $744,900 at The Elle, $700,000 and $689,900 at Riverwalk on Jack Warner Parkway, and $690,000 at The Chimes. Nothing above that. No Hillhouse, no Enclave, no WestGate. The four together carried $2,824,800, which is 27.5 percent of the month’s dollars.
A quiet month at the top is not the same as a soft market at the top. It is four data points, and whether any of them is a usable comparable for a given unit is a question about that unit, not about the tier.
What is already under contract
The pipeline is bigger than the month
36 condos and town homes went under contract in August. Eight of those closed by the end of the month and are already in the 30 sales. The other 28 were still under contract on September 1, and their asking prices total $14,183,799 against the $10,270,550 the month’s closings sold for. Asking price is not contract price, which stays confidential until a sale closes, so read that figure as the size of the pipeline rather than as money already agreed. Seven of the 28 are asking above $650,000.
Thirty-six contracts against thirty closings is a month that refilled faster than it cleared. Most of those 28 should close in September and October, and if the premium ones hold, the fall could look nothing like the quiet top August showed. It also says buyers did not go home after move in week; they signed.
Three town homes at Bryant Row on Paul W Bryant Drive, asking $1,500,000, $1,490,000 and $1,490,000, went under contract on August 21, 21 and 24. All three had been listed since September 15 of last year. $4,480,000 of asking price sat unsold for eleven months and then went under contract inside four days. Those three asking prices alone come to 1.59 times August’s entire premium sales volume, and all seven premium contracts together come to 2.77 times it. What they close at is not public yet, and any of them can still fall through.
The other large contracts still open on September 1: a WestGate Residences unit asking $1,050,000 after 16 days, and three at The Elle asking $775,000, $775,000 and $750,000 after 0, 85 and 4 days.
Read one month at the top as weather, not climate.
How fast each tier actually moved
Median days on market, resales only
Under $350,000: 21.5 days on 14 sales. $350,000 to $650,000: 30 days on 5 sales. $650,000 and up: 1 day on 4 sales, and that last figure needs explaining.
Twenty one and a half days is the median time an entry-tier resale stayed available before it went under contract. The price story underneath it is one-sided. Of the 14 entry-tier resales that closed, 11 sold below asking and 3 at asking. Not one sold above. The median came in at 98.5 percent of asking.
Do not read anything into the one-day premium figure until you know what is behind it. Four sales are too few to call a trend, and these four split three to one. Three went under contract within a day of listing, one at The Elle the same day it listed and two on the river the day after. The fourth, at The Chimes, took 162 days. One month of four sales is not a trend in either direction.
The part nobody publishes
Twelve came off, seven came right back
Sellers withdrew twelve listings in August, after a median of 105 days unsold. Seven of the twelve were back on the market inside the month. Six of those seven returned the very same day at the identical price: Ivory Bluff on 5th Street NE at $619,900 after 99 days, The Ridge at Timber Cove at $404,900 after 104, Watercress at $274,900 after 99, Fairfax Village at $229,900 after 59, and two units at Emory Woods at $142,500 each after 144. The seventh, at The Elle, came back eight days later at $25,000 lower and was under contract four days after that.
Six returned at the same asking price they had carried before, and all six are still active. Two of them only relisted on August 31 and have had a single day to do anything. The $25,000 is a change in asking price, not a loss taken, because that sale has not closed. Seven listings in one month cannot tell you that cutting the price is what produced the contract. They can tell you which listing is under contract.
If you are buying, the practical point is that the days-on-market figure on a listing may be its second counter. The two Emory Woods units showed zero days on September 1 and have been continuously available since April 9. Ask for the full price and status history before you decide how much room a seller has.
A new listing date resets the counter buyers see, not the price history.
Around Tuscaloosa
Two things worth knowing that are not on the MLS
Football opens at home Saturday, September 5 against East Carolina. If you are touring units this week, do it before Friday afternoon. Downtown and the campus edge get very hard to move through from Friday evening through Sunday morning on a home weekend, and every building within walking distance of Bryant-Denny shows differently on a game day than on a Tuesday. Both versions are worth seeing before you buy.
Four town homes at Collier Row on Almon Avenue came on the market the same day in August at $1,300,000 and $1,400,000, a meaningful addition to a tier holding an estimated 8.4 months of supply. Separately, the Sports Illustrated Resorts development on Rice Mine Road, reported at roughly $150 million with two towers and 75 for-sale condominiums, has been announced for 2028. Announced timelines and unit counts change, so confirm the current plan before you weigh it.
Full Numbers
Every status, side by side
| Status | Min Ask | Max Ask | Ask | Still active Sept 1 | Already under contract | Already closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listed in August (45) | $142,500 | $1,400,000 | $349,900 | 28 | 13 | 4 |
Key Numbers
August 2026 recap
30
Closed in August
$294,950
Median sale
$278,200
Median resale
27.5%
Of dollars above $650K
36
Contracts written
12
Withdrawn, 7 relisted
Data sourced from WAMLS. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
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