Baldwin County's August Numbers Tell Two Different Stories — Here's What They Mean for You
If you're watching the Gulf Coast market right now, you need to stop thinking about "Baldwin County real estate" as one thing. The numbers coming out of August 2026 make it pretty clear: the resort market and the traditional residential market are moving in opposite directions, and if you lump them together you'll draw the wrong conclusion no matter which side of the market you're on.
I've been saying this for years to my own buyers and sellers on the Alabama/Florida line — Perdido Key, Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Pensacola Beach — and the latest Baldwin REALTORS® data backs it up with hard numbers.
The Resort Market: Prices and Volume Are Both Down
In the Resort Area — that's the coastal ZIP codes (36511, 36542, 36547, 36561) where most of the condos and beach investment properties sit — August 2026 average sales prices came in at $776,553. That's down from $829,364 a year ago, roughly a 6% drop.
It's not just price. Closed sales dropped from 185 a year ago to 156 this August, which pulled total sales volume down from $153.4 million to $121.1 million. New listings also pulled back, from 299 to 288.
Here's the one bright spot in that segment: days on market actually improved, dropping from 116 to 107. So even with fewer buyers and lower prices, the properties that did sell moved a little faster than last year. That tells me sellers who are pricing realistically are still finding buyers — it's the overpriced listings sitting stale that are dragging the averages down.
Traditional Residential: Still Climbing
Meanwhile, the Traditional Residential market — everything outside those resort ZIP codes — is telling a completely different story. Average sales price climbed to $411,213, up from $387,865 last August. That's about a 6% increase, almost a mirror image of what's happening on the coast.
Closed sales dipped slightly (535 vs. 565), but total dollar volume still edged up to $220 million. Homes are taking a couple extra days to sell on average (73 vs. 71), and new listings dropped meaningfully, from 807 down to 710.
Fewer homes coming on the market, steady demand, prices still climbing — that's a textbook tight inventory story for primary-residence buyers inland.
The Area-by-Area Breakdown
The county-wide numbers hide a lot of local variation, so here's how the individual segments shook out for August 2026:
| Area | Sold | Avg. Price | Avg. DOM | YoY Price Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Baldwin | 200 | $337,890 | 72 | +2.54% |
| Coastal Condos | 81 | $697,805 | 129 | -7.17% |
| Coastal Homes | 78 | $910,922 | 84 | -1.48% |
| Eastern Shore | 191 | $561,094 | 76 | +13.54% |
| North Baldwin | 6 | $351,417 | 31 | +19.38% |
A couple things jump out at me here. Eastern Shore and North Baldwin are running hot — double-digit price growth, quick sales. Coastal Condos are the segment feeling the most pressure: prices down over 7% and days on market sitting well above the county average at 129 days. Coastal Homes are down slightly too, but nowhere near as much, and they're still moving in under three months on average.
What This Means If You're Buying or Selling
If you're shopping condos on the coast — whether that's on the Alabama side in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores or just across the state line here on Perdido Key — this is a buyer's market, plain and simple. Prices have room to negotiate, inventory is sitting longer, and sellers who need to move are adjusting. If you've been priced out of a beachfront unit the last couple years, now's the time to have that conversation with me.
If you own a coastal condo and you're thinking about selling, don't just list at last year's number and hope. That 129-day average on Coastal Condos means overpriced units are sitting. Pricing it right from day one — based on what's actually closing, not what closed a year ago — is the difference between a quick sale and a stale listing.
If you're a traditional residential buyer looking inland, be ready to move. Listings are down almost 12% year over year while prices keep climbing. That's a tighter market than it looks on the surface, and the good ones aren't lasting.
If you're selling a traditional home, you're in a good spot — steady demand, rising prices, and fewer competitors on the market than a year ago.
One more thing worth noting: Baldwin REALTORS® recently updated how they define these market areas, moving to objective geographic boundaries instead of the old legacy designations as part of a new MLS platform rollout. That means the reporting is getting more precise going forward, which is a good thing — but it's also a reminder that broad countywide headlines rarely tell the whole story. Local knowledge of the specific neighborhood, building, or ZIP code still matters more than the county average.
If you want to talk through what these numbers mean for your specific property or your specific search — whether you're looking at Perdido Key, Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Pensacola Beach, or Navarre — reach out. I look at this data street by street and building by building, not just county by county.
Source: Baldwin REALTORS® MLS statistics, as reported by OBA.
