Published October 4, 2026 in Market Update

More homes are selling, but buyers are taking longer to decide

By Josh Burnett

Real estate, Primary market

These numbers cover the three months ending July 31, 2026, as of October 4, 2026.

Here is the one fact that changes what a homeowner should do right now. Freddie Mac put the 30-year fixed rate at 7.28% as of October 1, 2026. Realtor.com noted that rates crossed 7% in late September for the first time since January 2025. That number sits in every buyer's head when they look at your list price. It does not stop them from buying. It does make them slower.

I think of it like a thermostat. When rates climb, buyers do not leave the room. They just turn the dial down a little on what they will pay and how fast they will decide. You can see it clearly in the numbers below.

The whole market in three numbers

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 3,915 homes sold across the Primary market in the three months ending July 31, 2026. That is up 6% from the same three months in 2025. More homes sold. That is the good part. But pending sales, the ones not yet closed, slipped 1.3% over the same stretch. Buyers are still writing offers. They are just writing fewer of them per week than they were a year ago. Realtor.com reported pending sales nationally fell 4.1% year over year as of late September. Our market is holding up better than that, but the direction is the same.

Inventory rose too. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 4,505 homes for sale, up 7.1%. Realtor.com put active listings nationally up 6.3% from a year ago, the fastest pace in at least six months. More choice for buyers means more patience from buyers. If you are selling, that matters.

How fast are homes moving, by ZIP code

Days on market is the clearest sign of buyer caution. Almost every ZIP code is taking longer than it did a year ago. The spread is wide.

ZIP 28209 sat at 38 days, actually 4 days shorter than a year ago. ZIP 28104 came in at 41 days, 2 days shorter than last year. Those two moved against the trend. Every other ZIP took the same or more time than it did in 2025. ZIP 28115 added 14 days. ZIP 29708 added 13 days. ZIP 28202 added 45 days and now sits at 104. That last one is not a typo.

Prices: some up, some down, none dramatic

The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported U.S. house prices rose 2.1% year over year between the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026. Our ZIPs are a mixed picture around that national figure.

ZIP 28203 saw the biggest price jump, up 24%, with a median of $800,000 on 86 homes sold. That is a small count, so one or two large sales can move the number. ZIP 28227 rose 15.5% to $465,000. On the other side, ZIP 28206 fell 20.9% to $370,000, and ZIP 28202 fell 13.1% to $367,000. Both of those ZIPs also had slower days on market and softer pending sales. The price drops and the slow sales are telling the same story.

Which homes are still getting above asking

Even with buyers taking more time, some homes are still closing over list price. The share has fallen in most ZIPs, but it has not disappeared.

ZIP 28209 had 31.3% of homes sell above list. It also had the shortest days on market at 38 and a sale-to-list ratio of 100.3%, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. That is the one ZIP in this market where buyers are still competing hardest. ZIP 28202 had just 1.9% of homes sell above list, and not a single home went under contract within two weeks of listing in that period.

How quickly homes go under contract

This one is worth watching. The share of homes that went under contract within two weeks of listing fell in almost every ZIP. That is the clearest sign that buyers are taking longer to decide.

ZIP 28209 had 52% of homes under contract within two weeks. That is actually up 5.6 points from a year ago. ZIP 28277 came in at 48.8%, though that is down 12.5 points from last year. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted ZIP 28105 at 44.7%, down 14.3 points. The drop in that ZIP is the biggest in the market. ZIP 28202 had 0%, down 33.3 points. That is a hard number to sit with if you own there.

Supply: how many months of homes are sitting

Months of supply tells you how long it would take to sell every home currently listed, at the current pace. The National Association of Realtors put the national figure at 4.9 months as of their most recent reading, the highest level in over ten years. Our ZIPs are mostly below that, but a few are climbing.

ZIP 28202 is at 8.3 months of supply, up 2.9 months from a year ago. That is a buyer's market by any measure. ZIP 28104 is at 2.3 months, down 0.3 months, and still tilts toward sellers. Most of the rest sit between 3 and 4 months, which is roughly balanced. The national figure of 4.9 months from the National Association of Realtors puts most of our ZIPs in a healthier spot than the country as a whole.

A few ZIPs worth a closer look

ZIP 28209 is the clearest outlier on the strong side. Homes there averaged 100.3% of list price, meaning sellers got, on average, a little more than they asked. That is the only ZIP in this market above 100%. ZIP 28277 moved 332 homes in three months, up 13.7%, and still had 48.8% go under contract within two weeks. Both are holding up well even with rates where they are. ZIP 28202 is the honest counterweight. Fewer sales, slower pace, more supply, and prices down 13.1%. If you own there, you need a price that reflects that reality, not last year's.

ZIP 29707 sold 284 homes, up 27.4% from a year ago. That is the biggest volume gain in the market. But the median price fell 11.3% to $487,750. More buyers showed up and paid less. That tells you sellers there had to move on price to move their homes.

That last point is the one I want to leave you with. One street can read very differently from the whole ZIP code average. If your home is in 28209, the averages are working in your favor. If it is in 28202, they are not. And if it is anywhere in between, the answer is somewhere in between too. What does your specific address look like against what actually sold near you in the last 90 days?