Published November 1, 2026 in Market Update

Primary market sales rose even with rates above 7%

By Donny Piwowarski, Broker

Real estate, Primary market

Rates above 7% did not stop buyers here. That is the clearest thing the numbers say.

Freddie Mac put the 30-year fixed rate at 7.24% on October 29, 2026. Realtor.com noted that rates climbed above 7% for the first time since January 2025. Higher rates are real, and they are part of every buyer's math right now.

Even so, the Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 1,598 homes sold across the Primary market in the three months ending August 31, 2026. That is up 2.1% from the same three months a year before. Demand did not stop.

Pending sales tell the next part of the story. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 1,626 pending sales across the Primary market in that same period, up 2.7%. Contracts being signed today become closings in a few weeks. The pipeline is still moving.

More listings came to market, and buyers kept up

The Real Estate Data Aggregator also counted 1,957 new listings in the Primary market, up 6.2% from a year before. More supply came in. Buyers absorbed it. That balance matters for pricing.

Nationally, the National Association of Realtors reported existing-home sales reached 3.99 million units in September 2026, with prices up 1.3% year over year. The Primary market's 2.1% sales gain sits in that same current.

How each ZIP code moved

The market-wide number covers a lot of ground. Some ZIP codes ran faster, some slower. Here is what the Real Estate Data Aggregator counted for each one in the three months ending August 31, 2026.

Speed: how fast homes went under contract

Speed varied a lot by ZIP. The Real Estate Data Aggregator tracked the share of homes that went under contract within two weeks of listing. Some neighborhoods moved very quickly.

A few ZIP codes worth a closer look

ZIP 95304 in Tracy stood out. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 36 homes sold there, up 157.1% from a year before. Pending sales were up 70%. That is a small ZIP code, so a swing like that can reflect a handful of new homes coming to market, but the direction is clear.

ZIP 95138 in San Jose moved quickly. The Real Estate Data Aggregator found that 50% of homes there went under contract within two weeks of listing, up 21.9 points from a year before. The average sale came in at 103.8% of list price, up 4 points.

ZIP 95391 in Tracy told a different story. The Real Estate Data Aggregator put median days on market at 34, up 9 days from a year before. The sale-to-list ratio slipped to 96.5%, down 2.1 points. Homes still sold, but sellers had to work a little harder.

What the rate picture means

Freddie Mac also reported the 15-year fixed rate at 6.60% on October 29, 2026. Some buyers use a shorter loan to lower the rate. Either way, the cost of borrowing is a real factor in every offer written right now.

Nationally, Realtor.com put the median U.S. listing price at $414,000 for the week ending October 24, 2026, with active inventory up 8.0% year over year. Median days on market nationally sat at 64 days. Most ZIP codes in the Primary market moved considerably faster than that.