Stark County Housing Market Report: July 2026

Stark County’s median home price hit $237,000 in July 2026, up 2.6 percent from July 2025, on 499 closed sales, the highest single month in the past year and up 16.9 percent year-over-year, per Stark County MLS data. Homes averaged 29.1 days from listing to contract, nine percent faster than last July. Active inventory climbed to 766 listings, up 24.1 percent from a year ago, while pending sales fell 13.4 percent over the same stretch. That combination, more homes sitting active while fewer move to pending, is the clearest early signal in this data that the county’s tight seller’s market is starting to loosen, even though supply is still nowhere near balanced.

Data period: July 2026 (Stark County MLS, 499 closed transactions, auction sales included). Year-over-year comparisons are against July 2025. Inventory figures (active listings, pending, new listings, months of inventory) are from MLS stats-tool exports pulled 2026-08-20. This report does not include August 2026 data; a partial August count of 260 sales through August 20 has been deliberately excluded and will be folded into next month’s report once the month closes. Last updated: 2026-08-24.

Market Overview

July was the busiest month of the past year for closed sales in Stark County: 499 homes changed hands, up from 428 in June and up 16.9 percent from July 2025’s count. The median sale price landed at $237,000, a 2.6 percent gain over last July, while the average sale price actually dipped 0.8 percent to $268,447. Those two numbers moving in opposite directions matters: when the median rises but the average doesn’t, the gains are concentrated in the middle of the market rather than at the top. Median price per square foot came in at $164.21, up 4.6 percent year-over-year, calculated from the 466 of 499 July sales carrying a usable finished-area figure.

Metric	July 2026	Year-over-Year
Median Sale Price	$237,000	+2.6%
Average Sale Price	$268,447	-0.8%
Median Price Per Sq Ft	$164.21	+4.6%
Closed Sales	499	+16.9%
Average Days on Market	29.1 days	-9.0%
Median List-to-Sale Ratio	100.0%	+0.0 pts

Price Trends

The spring-to-summer climb in Stark County shows up clearly across the last four months. Closed sales rose every month from April through July: 365, then 370, then 428, then 499. Median price held in a tight $230,000 to $250,000 band the whole way, with June’s $249,950 the high point and July settling back to $237,000. That dip is not a downturn. It reflects a shift in which homes sold that month, not a change in what buyers are willing to pay. Days on market told the more consistent story: 32.5 days in April, tightening to the mid-20s by June, ticking back up slightly to 29.1 in July as the volume of closings peaked.

Month	Closed Sales	Median Price	Median $/Sq Ft	Avg Days on Market
April 2026	365	$230,000	$157.29	32.5
May 2026	370	$235,000	$162.04	30.6
June 2026	428	$249,950	$161.81	26.5
July 2026	499	$237,000	$164.21	29.1

Inventory and Days on Market

Active listings reached 766 at the end of July, up 24.1 percent from 617 a year ago, and the county’s largest active count in the trailing twelve months. Months of inventory sits at 1.52, up from 1.42 last July but still deep in seller’s-market territory: a balanced market runs 5 to 6 months of inventory, so Stark County remains roughly a third of the way there. Pending listings fell to 381, down 13.4 percent year-over-year, even as new listings added during the month rose 16.9 percent to 651. Buyers are seeing more homes come to market and more choices sitting active, but they are converting those into pending contracts at a slower rate than last summer. Average days on market improved to 29.1, nine percent faster than July 2025’s pace, so the homes that do sell are still moving quickly by any historical standard for this county.

Price tier data shows where that speed concentrates. The $150,000 to $199,999 tier moved fastest at 24.0 days, while the $200,000 to $249,999 tier ran slowest at 34.6 days despite being the largest tier by volume, 98 closed sales. Homes under $150,000 sat for 31.7 days on average and were the second-largest tier at 95 sales, competitive with the $200,000 to $249,999 group but not quite tied for the top spot.

Price Tier	Closed Units	Avg Days on Market
Under $150,000	95	31.7
$150,000 – $199,999	70	24.0
$200,000 – $249,999	98	34.6
$250,000 – $299,999	82	26.6
$300,000 – $399,999	89	29.1
$400,000 and above	65	25.8

What This Means for Buyers

Buyers targeting the $150,000 to $200,000 range are competing hardest right now: those homes cleared in 24 days, the fastest of any tier, at a median list-to-sale ratio of 100 percent countywide. There is no discount showing up there. More room exists at the entry level. The under-$150,000 tier took nearly a week longer to sell, and with active inventory up nearly a quarter year-over-year, buyers willing to look at homes that have sat 30-plus days have more to choose from than they did last summer. The 24.1 percent jump in active listings is the number worth watching over the next few months: if pending sales keep falling while active supply keeps rising, negotiating leverage will keep shifting toward buyers, particularly outside the hottest mid-price tiers.

Twelve-Month Trend

Stark County’s active inventory bottomed out at 520 listings in February 2026 and has climbed steadily since, reaching 766 by July, a summer build-up that tracks the usual seasonal pattern rather than a structural shift. Months of inventory has held in a 1.44 to 1.98 range for most of the past year, aside from a post-holiday spike to 2.57 in January, itself a normal seasonal wrinkle rather than a market change. Closed sales followed a similar seasonal arc: a winter trough of 204 in March, then a steady climb to July’s 499, the strongest month of the twelve. Median price over that same year moved from $228,500 last August to $237,000 this July, a modest net gain once the month-to-month noise is smoothed out.

School District Breakdown

Plain Local Schools posted the most closed sales in July at 77, followed by Canton City Schools at 69 and Jackson Local at 63, with Jackson holding the highest median price among the high-volume districts at $325,000. Massillon City Schools sold 46 homes at a $177,450 median, up 4.4 percent year-over-year, with sales moving in 27.7 average days, close to the countywide pace and faster than Canton City and Jackson. Canton City Schools remains the county’s most affordable market among districts with meaningful sales volume, at $127,000. New-listings figures below are a trailing 12-month count from the MLS stats tool, not a July-only figure, and should be read as a relative volume indicator across districts rather than a monthly number.

School District	Closed Sales (Jul)	Median Sale Price	Avg Days on Market	YoY Median Change
Plain Local	77	$260,000	26.2	-5.0%
Canton City	69	$127,000	33.0	-0.7%
Jackson Local	63	$325,000	27.9	-16.6%
Massillon City	46	$177,450	27.7	+4.4%
North Canton City	42	$271,750	21.5	+5.4%
Perry Local	41	$258,751	21.2	+15.0%
Lake Local	38	$322,000	37.2	+22.7%
Louisville City	31	$250,000	33.8	+9.9%

Year-over-year district figures move on smaller sample sizes than the county total and swing harder as a result. Jackson Local’s 16.6 percent median decline came on 63 sales and Lake Local’s 22.7 percent gain came on 38, both large enough to report but noisier than the county-wide trend. Treat single-district year-over-year moves as directional and lean on the county figure for the stable read. District-level detail lives in the individual Stark County neighborhood guides.

What This Means for Sellers

Pricing in the $200,000 to $250,000 range needs a longer runway than the rest of the market. That tier posted 34.6 average days on market, the slowest of the six price bands, despite being the single largest by volume. Sellers there should expect a five-week-plus process rather than the 24 to 26 days homes are clearing in the tiers above and below. The county-wide list-to-sale ratio held at exactly 100.0 percent for a fourth straight month, meaning correctly priced homes are still selling at asking, not below it. That number is doing real work: it means overpricing, not overall market weakness, is the more likely explanation when a listing sits well past 35 days in this county right now.

Whether the read is buyer leverage or seller timing, the county-wide numbers this month point the same direction: a market still favoring sellers overall, but with more room to negotiate than a year ago, and that room is widest at the top of the $200,000 to $250,000 tier.

FAQ

What is the median home price in Stark County right now?
The median sale price across Stark County was $237,000 in July 2026, up 2.6 percent from $231,000 in July 2025, based on 499 closed transactions per Stark County MLS data.

Is Stark County a buyer’s or seller’s market in 2026?
Still a seller’s market by the numbers, though a loosening one. Months of inventory sits at 1.52, well under the 5 to 6 months that defines a balanced market, and homes sell at exactly 100 percent of list price at the median. Active listings are up 24.1 percent year-over-year, the clearest early sign of more room for buyers than a year ago.

How fast are homes selling in Stark County?
The average home went from listing to contract in 29.1 days in July 2026, nine percent faster than July 2025’s pace. The $150,000 to $199,999 price tier moved fastest at 24.0 days.

Which Stark County school district has the most affordable homes?
Canton City Schools, with a $127,000 median sale price in July 2026 on 69 closed sales, well below the countywide $237,000 median.

Are home prices going up or down in Stark County?
Up, modestly. The median rose 2.6 percent year-over-year to $237,000, though the average sale price slipped 0.8 percent, which points to gains concentrated in the middle of the market rather than at the high end.