Published October 18, 2026 in Market Update

Primary market sales still moved as rates stayed above 7%

By Donny Piwowarski, Broker

Real estate, Primary market

Rates above 7% did not stop deals here. That is the one fact worth holding onto as you read the rest of this.

Freddie Mac put the 30-year fixed rate at 7.40% on October 15, 2026. That is the same level Realtor.com noted when rates climbed above 7% for the first time since January 2025. Higher borrowing costs shape what buyers can afford. They also shape how sellers need to price.

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 in 2025. Pending sales came in at 1,626, up 2.7%. Both numbers say buyers are still moving.

New listings rose too. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 1,957 new listings, up 6.2% from a year ago. More homes for sale gives buyers more to choose from. That can slow a seller's timeline in some ZIP codes, even while the broader market keeps moving.

How each ZIP code looked

The market is not one thing. Some ZIP codes sold faster and closer to list price. Others took longer and gave sellers less. Here is what the Real Estate Data Aggregator counted, ZIP by ZIP, for the three months ending August 31, 2026.

Where homes sold fastest

Median days on market tells you how quickly a priced-right home found a buyer. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted these figures for the three months ending August 31, 2026.

ZIP 95120 led at 16 median days, 4 days shorter than a year ago, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. ZIP 95337 took the longest at 48 days, though that is 14 days shorter than the same period in 2025. Even the slowest ZIP moved faster than the national figure: Realtor.com put the U.S. median at 61 days for the week ending October 10, 2026.

Where sellers got above asking price

The share of homes that sold above list price tells you how much competition buyers faced. These figures come from the Real Estate Data Aggregator for the three months ending August 31, 2026.

In ZIP 95122, the Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 54.1% of homes selling above list price. That is more than half. ZIP 95391 sat at the other end at 15.1%, down 11 points from a year ago. Pricing to the market matters more than ever when buyers are stretching to cover a 7.40% rate.

A few ZIP codes worth a closer look

ZIP 95304 stood out. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 36 homes sold there, up 157.1% from a year ago. The median sale price rose 17.3% to $967,500. More homes came to market too: new listings were up 57.7% and pending sales were up 70%. That is a lot of movement in a small ZIP.

ZIP 95136 told a different story. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted a median sale price of $1,205,000, down 19.2% from a year ago. Homes for sale rose 41.9%. Days on market crept up 4 days. The share of homes sold above list dropped 9.8 points. More supply and softer demand pushed that price lower.

ZIP 95138 is worth noting too. The median sale price fell 16.7% to $1,470,000, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Yet the sale-to-list ratio hit 103.8%, up 4 points from a year ago. Half of all homes there went under contract within two weeks of listing, up 21.9 points. The price dipped, but buyers competed hard for what was available.

What the national picture adds

The National Association of Realtors counted 3.99 million existing-home sales nationally in September 2026. Inventory rose to 1.60 million homes. Prices were up 1.3% nationally. The Primary market's 2.1% sales gain lines up with that broader picture of a market still moving, just moving carefully.

Freddie Mac also reported a 15-year fixed rate of 6.71% on October 15, 2026. Some buyers who can manage a shorter loan term are using that rate to reduce their monthly cost. It is one tool worth knowing about.