The Camas Luxury Tier Has Decoupled From the Camas Median. Sellers Above $1M Are Pricing Against a Different Market.

In July 2026, the median home sold in Camas closed at $629,900 on NWMLS data, with 24 days to contract and 3.2 months of inventory. That is a seller's market by every conventional measure. The same week, the Altos median list price for Camas sat at $1,049,900. Both figures are correct. They describe two different Camases.

If you own a home on Prune Hill, along Lacamas Shores, or up on Livingston Mountain, the entry-market statistic is not your statistic. It is closer to a distraction. The market you are actually listing into behaves differently, is priced against different comps, and rewards a different sequence of seller decisions.

The thesis, stated plainly: in Camas 2026, the $1M+ tier is not competing with last year's luxury resales. It is competing with a fresh shelf of new-construction luxury from three builders, and the resulting price-discovery is happening in days-on-market, not in list price.

The Gap That Names the Market

Four reputable sources tracked Camas in mid-2026. Reading them together tells the story that reading any one of them individually hides.

The spread between the median sold ($629,900) and the median list ($1,049,900) is roughly $420,000. In a healthy, single-tier market, those two numbers move within a few percent of each other. When they diverge by 66%, it means the listings sitting on market are not the listings clearing on market. The luxury shelf is accumulating. The entry shelf is turning.

Redfin's report captures the intermediate reality: three-month median sold at $826,000 with average days on market rising to 43 from 17 a year earlier. Days on market almost tripled, and the median list still climbed. That is the signature of luxury-heavy inventory competing for a smaller pool of qualified buyers.

Where the New-Construction Shelf Is Actually Coming From

Camas resale sellers above $1M are being repriced by builder activity most of them are not tracking directly. Three communities are doing most of the work.

• The Glades at Green Mountain by Holt Homes: 200 homes planned, 3 to 5 bedrooms, 1,800 to 2,928 square feet, priced from $694,960 to roughly $850,000 as of June 2026. Camas School District, Lacamas Lake Elementary, Liberty Middle, Camas High. HOA around $63 per month.
• The Landing at Green Mountain by Pacific Lifestyle Homes: 2 to 5 bedrooms, 1,400 to 3,600 square feet, homesites of 4,400 to 7,400 square feet, from the upper $700s.
• Overlook at Prune Hill by Viewridge Homes: brand-new luxury subdivision. A representative active listing at 3101 NW 17th Avenue was priced at $1,494,900 in mid-2026, with primary-on-main, an office, and a covered patio on the main level and a bonus room and two additional en-suite bedrooms upstairs.

That last one matters most. Prune Hill has historically been the address that carried the top end of Camas resale, anchored by neighborhoods like Grand Ridge, Hunter Ridge Estates, Renaissance Summit, Crown Pointe, and Skyline Estates. Now a brand-new build with warranty, current code, and current-year finishes sits on the same hill at $1.49M. A 2003 executive resale asking $1.35M is no longer competing with 2019 comps. It is competing with a home that will still be new the day the buyer closes.

The 63-Day / 133-Day Split, Read Correctly

Two numbers do more work here than any median. Local reporting on July 2026 Altos data pegged Camas single-family median days on market at 63 while the average sat at 133. When median and average diverge that hard, it is because a specific slice of inventory is dragging the average.

That slice is the luxury tier. Well-priced homes below $750,000 clear inside 60 days. Homes carrying luxury or overpriced list prices are sitting well past four months. As one local summary put it, "buyers have gained leverage in the $1M+ luxury tier where multiple offers are rare."

For a seller above $1M, that translates into a specific reality: the risk is not selling for 3% under list. The risk is sitting on market for 100+ days, watching the new-construction shelf grow, and being forced into a price cut that shows in the MLS history and never really recovers.

What the Green Mountain Preservation Actually Changed

Long-term supply on Green Mountain looks tighter than the current build pace suggests. In December 2020, the City of Camas acquired 115 acres on the west side of Green Mountain, including the ridge top, for $3.8 million against a $20.1 million appraised value. Sixty of those acres were donated; 55 were purchased. The land had 159 preliminarily approved residential lots. Those lots will not be built. The acquisition record is on the City of Camas Public Works page.

For a $1M+ seller today, the practical implication is that the current wave of Green Mountain new construction is finite in a way most buyers have not internalized yet. When it sells through, the luxury shelf compresses. That is a talking point buyers respond to, and it belongs in the listing narrative, not in a footnote.

The Seller's Sequence Above $1M

Given the two-tier structure, the sequence that works for entry-market Camas listings does not translate. Here is the order that fits the mechanics of the luxury tier as they exist in July 2026:

1. Price to the new-construction shelf, not to the 2022 comp set. If a comparable Viewridge or Pacific Lifestyle build lists at $1.49M with builder incentives, a 2005 resale needs to explain its price relative to that number, not relative to a 2021 sale in the same subdivision.
2. Compress pre-market prep, then launch clean. Coming-soon marketing that lets the listing hit MLS in show-ready condition avoids the price-cut trail that punishes luxury inventory. Cumulative days on market follows the property.
3. Invest in campaign-grade visuals before the first showing. Video, aerial, and lifestyle imagery are what pull buyers past a $1.4M new-construction alternative. A stills-only listing signals the wrong price tier.
4. Consider a discreet pre-MLS window. For sellers on Livingston Mountain, along Lacamas Shores, or on a slope-restricted Prune Hill parcel, an off-market or whisper-tier launch tests price against qualified buyers without accruing days on market.
5. Sequence around the Washington five-day rescission window on resale disclosure. Buyers in Washington get a defined review period once the resale packet is delivered. Getting inspection-ready and disclosure-complete before listing removes the friction point where luxury deals most often stall.
6. Have the concession script ready. In a tier where multiple offers are rare, the negotiation is not price-only. Rate buydowns, closing-cost credits, and staged possession can hold nominal price while giving the buyer the number that gets them across.

Friction the Listing Photos Won't Show

A few Camas-specific realities catch $1M+ sellers off guard during transactions. Naming them in advance is faster than discovering them at inspection.

Prune Hill's cinder-cone geology introduces slope stability restrictions that can limit additions, decks, and retaining walls on hillside parcels. A buyer's inspector will flag it, and a buyer's agent will use it. Have the geotechnical documentation ready in the seller packet.

Some western Camas addresses carry a Camas ZIP code but fall inside the Evergreen School District boundary rather than Camas School District. In a market where school access drives a meaningful share of the $1M+ premium, that boundary detail is a material fact that should be disclosed accurately, not left for the buyer's agent to surface at offer.

Homes near Lacamas Lake and along the wildland edge face wildfire insurance scrutiny that has tightened across Clark County. Confirming that the property is currently insurable at reasonable premiums, and providing the carrier and policy detail to the buyer's lender, removes a late-stage financing surprise.

The Georgia-Pacific mill downtown still occasionally produces a sulfur odor on certain wind days. It is part of the Camas identity, not a defect, but a buyer relocating from out of state should hear it from the listing side rather than from a neighbor at the final walkthrough.

FAQ

Is Camas still a seller's market in July 2026? Below $750,000, yes. NWMLS pegged 3.2 months of inventory, a 98.8% sale-to-list ratio, and 24-day median days on market in June 2026. Above $1M, the same source data shows luxury listings sitting past 100 days on average and multiple-offer situations becoming uncommon.

How much of the price gap is really about new construction? Enough to change strategy. With Holt Homes' Glades starting near $695K, Pacific Lifestyle's Landing from the upper $700s, and Viewridge's Overlook at Prune Hill posting listings near $1.5M, resale sellers at every step of the luxury ladder now have a new-construction alternative on the same hill.

Does the Green Mountain 115-acre preservation affect resale values today? Not directly on 2026 comps. It matters for the medium-term supply story a buyer's agent should hear during negotiation. 159 preliminarily approved lots that will not be built is a real number.

What is the biggest mistake sellers above $1M are making right now? Anchoring to a 2021 or 2022 comp and treating days on market as a cosmetic issue. In a bifurcated market, cumulative days on market is the price cut, whether or not the list price ever changes.

If you own a home on Prune Hill, along Lacamas Shores, on Livingston Mountain, or anywhere the Camas story is really a luxury story, the market you are listing into deserves a strategy that matches its mechanics. Rebecca Lee Real Estate builds campaign-level marketing, off-market discretion, and creative negotiation into every luxury listing across the Portland–Vancouver corridor. Request a Luxury Consultation & Market Valuation to see what your Camas home should be priced against, and how to launch so the first thirty days actually work in your favor.