Is Now the Right Time to Sell My Home in Anacortes?

For most Anacortes homeowners with equity built before 2022, yes, now is a workable time to sell, provided the home is priced to today's market and you know where you are going next. For anyone who bought in 2022 or later, or has no next home in sight, the honest answer is often "not yet." Here is how to tell which you are.

The question comes up more than any other at DiAnn Sager's kitchen-table conversations with sellers across Anacortes and Fidalgo Island. It deserves a real answer, not a sales one.

Two numbers tell the story. In Anacortes the median home goes pending in 11 days, while the average sits at 48. Across Skagit County the average is 42.

When the median and the average are that far apart, the market is split. Half the homes are selling in under two weeks. The rest are sitting, often for months, waiting for a price change the seller did not want to make. Buyers have choices right now, so they are choosy.

That is not bad news. It means the market rewards a home that is priced honestly and presented well, and it punishes a home that is priced to a neighbor's wish. Timing matters less than positioning.

Depends on when you bought. Skagit County's median sale price in January 2018 was $299,250. In January 2026 it was $570,000. That is a 90 percent gain on a January-to-January basis, which is the honest way to compare, because a single spring month runs hot from seasonality.

Roughly, and only roughly: a home bought in 2018 or 2019 has real equity in it. A 2020 or 2021 purchase has meaningful equity. A 2022 purchase is close to flat, and depending on the street, it can be slightly under once selling costs are counted.

Those are county medians, not your house. Your actual equity position depends on the address, the condition, the loan balance, and the costs of selling. That is what the free EPIC Home-Selling Report is for: it puts your real number on paper before you make any decision.

Now is the right time when three things are true at once.

1. The equity is there. You can sell, pay the costs, and walk away with a net that funds the next chapter. For most pre-2022 buyers in Skagit County, it is.
2. You know where you are going. Not the exact address, but the shape of it: a single-level home in town, a smaller place near the water, a move closer to the people you love, a different county. Selling without a destination is how people end up in a rental they never wanted.
3. The home can be ready. A pre-listing inspection, a staging consultation, and the repairs that show in a photo. If those can happen within the next few months, the timing works.

When all three line up, waiting rarely helps. The market is the market. A well-positioned home sells in this one.

DiAnn's difference, in her words: "If now is the wrong time to sell, I will say so." Here are the times it is.

• You bought in 2022 or later and the county medians suggest you are near flat. Unless the move is forced, holding a year or two costs less than selling at a loss.
• You have no next home and no plan for one. Sell first without a destination, in a market where buyers have choices, and you can be the one in a hurry on the purchase side.
• The home needs work you cannot fund yet. A roof, a failed septic, a drainage problem on a sloped island lot. Listing around it invites a low offer or a renegotiation at inspection. Fix it first if you can.
• You are selling to chase a headline. If the only reason is "prices are high," the numbers above show they have been high for a while. A move works when the life needs it, not when the news says so.
• You are in the middle of a loss. An estate, a health change, the end of a marriage. Sometimes the right move is to wait three months, get steady, and then sell with a clear head. The home will still be there.

None of these are permanent. They are "not yet," and a good plan tells you what has to change before "yes."

Nobody can tell you where rates will be next year, and anyone who claims to is guessing. What the data does show is that spring pushes county medians up for a few months and then they settle. Anchoring a decision on one hot month is how people overprice.

The better question is what waiting costs you. Another year in a home that no longer fits the life. Another year of maintenance on a property that is more than you need. Another year of the next home costing whatever it costs then. Sometimes waiting wins. Put the numbers side by side before you assume it does.

Three steps, no pressure.

1. Get your real number. Request the EPIC Home-Selling Report. It shows your equity position and your likely net under three pricing paths.
2. Name the destination. Write down what the next home has to have and where it has to be. If you cannot write that page yet, that is your answer for now.
3. Have one honest conversation. Bring both to a kitchen-table meeting. You will leave with either a plan and a timeline, or a clear "not yet" and the list of what changes it.

Most sellers in transition take three to twelve months from that first conversation to closing. There is no rush, and there is no prize for being early. There is a real cost to guessing.

Is now a good time to sell a home in Anacortes? For homeowners with equity built before 2022, yes, if the home is priced to today's market and there is a plan for where to go next. Priced-right Anacortes homes went pending in a median of 11 days as of June 2026.

Will Anacortes home prices keep going up? No one can promise that. Skagit County's median rose 90 percent from January 2018 to January 2026, with a dip in 2023 along the way. Decide on your life and your net, not on a forecast.

What if I bought in 2022? County medians suggest you are close to flat. Get your specific number before deciding, and if the move is optional, waiting is often the stronger play.

DiAnn Sager is a Real Estate Broker with RE/MAX Gateway in Anacortes, WA helping homeowners and buyers navigate their next move across Skagit, Island, Whatcom, and Snohomish counties. She specializes in life-transition sales: rightsizing, estate, and relocation moves. Lifelong North Puget Sound local, most of her life on Fidalgo Island, licensed since January 2018. Office: RE/MAX Gateway, 914 15th Street, Anacortes, WA 98221. Phone 360-770-7139. Read her client reviews on her Google Business Profile.

Request your free EPIC Home-Selling Report. It answers "is now the right time" with your own numbers, and if the answer is "not yet," it tells you what to watch for. Questions first? Call or text 360-770-7139.