Tempe housing market, September 2026

What this means if you’re selling in Tempe

Tempe sends two signals at once, so let me separate them. On 9/15/26 the Cromford index for Tempe read 81.6, which Cromford classes as a buyer’s market. Yet the typical single-family home sold in about 47 days, down from 67 a year earlier (median, 9/15/26 vs 9/15/25). How do both happen? Buyers did show up this year. Listings showed up faster. The index measures the balance, and the balance tipped toward more homes for sale.

On your street that means a priced-right home sells quickly and near asking. Sellers who close get about 98 cents on every dollar they ask (97.58%). But you have more neighbors competing for the same buyers than you did a year ago, so the overpriced home has nowhere to hide.

Tempe closes about 64 single-family homes a month, the smallest count of the six cities, so its figures swing more than Mesa’s or Gilbert’s. Do not price to a headline. Price to the last three closings on your street and let the 47 days work for you.

What this means if you’re buying in Tempe

Tempe has the fewest single-family homes for sale of the six cities, 267 on 9/15/26, and the well-priced ones move in under seven weeks. That is the tension: the index says buyers have the edge, but the house you want will not wait while you think about it. Be prepared to write within a day or two on a home that is priced right.

On price, plan to pay close to asking on those homes. Sellers who close are getting about 98 cents on the dollar, and sellers are asking only about 2% more per square foot than buyers are paying on the median, one of the narrowest gaps of the six. Tempe is priced honestly right now.

Your room is on the homes that have sat past the 47-day mark. More homes came on the market this year than buyers arrived to absorb, and those sellers know it. A clean offer with a short timeline is the one they take.

Watch next month: Whether the growth in Tempe homes for sale continues into the fall while sales hold at about 64 a month; that is what pushed the index down to 81.6 on 9/15/26.

Sources: Cromford Report and ARMLS, data 9/15/26. Analysis and wording are mine; see how I read the numbers.