Published October 11, 2026 in Market Update

More sellers came out, but contracts still kept pace

By Jason & Susan Zwolak

Real estate, SFR under $1M

I was looking at the numbers for the three months ending August 31, 2026, and something caught my eye. Sellers showed up in bigger numbers this summer. But buyers did too. That balance matters more than either number alone.

Realtor.com reported that 20.8% of listings nationally had price cuts in September 2026, the highest September share since 2018. That sounds like sellers are struggling. Here, the story reads a little differently.

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 1,651 new listings across these ZIP codes in those three months. That is up 9% from the same period in 2025. More sellers came to market. But buyers matched them well. Pending sales came in at 1,350, down only 2% from a year before. Sellers added more, buyers absorbed nearly as many. Supply crept up just 1.8%. That is a gentle shift, not a flood.

Rates are real, and buyers are still moving

Freddie Mac put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.40% as of October 8, 2026. Realtor.com noted rates were over 7% in September 2026, up more than a full percentage point since late February. That is a real cost. And yet contracts kept coming in across these ZIP codes. Buyers are adjusting, not disappearing.

Where homes moved fastest

Not every ZIP moved the same way. Some saw buyers act within days. Others took longer. Here is how days on market compared across the ZIP codes the Real Estate Data Aggregator tracked for the three months ending August 31, 2026.

ZIP 92831 had the shortest median at 29 days, down 11 days from a year before, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. ZIP 92840 was close behind at 31 days, down 13 days. On the other end, ZIP 92707 sat at 56 days, up 8 days from last year. One ZIP code can feel like a different market entirely.

How many homes sold above asking

This is the number I watch closely. When buyers pay over list, it tells you demand is real, not just polite. The Real Estate Data Aggregator tracked this for each ZIP in the three months ending August 31, 2026.

ZIP 92703 had the highest share at 66.7%, up 39.6 points from the same period in 2025. That is a big jump. ZIP 92802 came in at 65.4%, up 13.2 points. On the other side, ZIP 90621 was at 23.4% and ZIP 92656 at 27.9%. Those ZIP codes still had sales above list, just not as many.

Prices: mostly steady, a few dips

Most ZIP codes held their price or moved up a little. A few dipped. The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported U.S. house prices rose 2.6% from July 2025 to July 2026. Several ZIP codes here kept pace with or beat that.

ZIP 92802 saw the biggest price gain: up 9.1% to $949,500, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. ZIP 92801 rose 6.1% to $896,500. ZIP 92843 dropped 9.9% to $860,000, and ZIP 92780 fell 8.3% to $1,143,500. A dip in one ZIP does not mean the whole market is softening.

Speed of contracts: who went under in two weeks

The Real Estate Data Aggregator also tracks how many homes went under contract within two weeks of listing. This tells you how urgently buyers are moving when a home hits the market.

ZIP 92840 led with 56.1% of homes going under contract within two weeks, up 22.1 points from a year ago. ZIP 92832 was at the other end at 27.3%. That gap shows how differently two neighborhoods can behave in the same market.

Supply is still lean in most ZIP codes

Months of supply tells you how long it would take to sell every home listed if no new ones came on. Under three months generally favors sellers. Over six months generally favors buyers.

ZIP 92832 had the leanest supply at 1.7 months, down 1.5 months from a year before. ZIP 92703 was the outlier at 6.3 months, up 3.7 months from last year. That is the one ZIP where buyers have the most room to negotiate. Everywhere else, supply stayed tight.

One thing I want to be honest about: these are ZIP code numbers. One street can read very differently from the ZIP as a whole. A block with newer homes, a corner lot, or a different school boundary can shift the picture. If you want to know what is happening right where you live, text me your address.