Published October 25, 2026 in Market Update

Sales rose across Secondary Markets even with fewer homes for sale

By Justin Vierra

Real estate, Secondary Markets

The one fact that changes what you should do: buyers kept showing up. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 274 homes sold across Secondary Markets in the three months ending August 31, 2026. That is up 18.6% from the same three months in 2025. At the same time, Realtor.com reported mortgage rates topped 7% in September 2026, the first time since January 2025. Buyers came anyway.

For homeowners, more sales with fewer homes available means your competition for a buyer's attention is lower. For buyers, it means you are likely competing with more offers, not fewer.

Inventory fell, yet sales climbed

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 146 homes for sale across Secondary Markets in that same period. That is down 3.9% from a year before. New listings were up only 1.8%, to 280. Demand outran supply. Pending sales reached 270, up 6.3% from 2025, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Realtor.com also noted that price cuts hit 20.8% of listings nationally in September 2026, the highest share since October 2022. That tells you pricing still matters, even in a market where sales are rising.

How each ZIP code read

The three ZIP codes in Secondary Markets each told a different story. 95822 and 95831 moved fast. 95864 took longer.

95822: steady price, faster sales

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 97 homes sold in 95822, up 19.8% from a year before. The median sale price held at $450,000, unchanged from 2025. Homes sat on the market a median of 16 days, 3 days shorter than last year. Nearly 43.3% sold above list price, up 5 points. Almost half of all listings, 46.8%, went under contract within two weeks. That share rose 6.8 points from 2025. Supply sat at just 1.5 months.

95831: the fastest ZIP in the group

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 98 homes sold in 95831, up 34.2% from a year before. That is the biggest jump of any ZIP here. The median sale price came in at $662,500, down just 0.4% from 2025. A small dip, not a slide. Homes sold in a median of 12 days, 6 days shorter than last year. The average sale came in at 101.8% of list price, up 1.5 points. Nearly 46.9% sold above list price, up 12.6 points. More than half of all listings, 55.8%, went under contract within two weeks.

95864: prices rose, but homes took longer

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 79 homes sold in 95864, up 2.6% from a year before. The median sale price rose to $950,000, up 9.8%. That is the strongest price gain of the three ZIP codes. But homes sat on the market a median of 30 days, 10 days longer than last year. Only 24.1% sold above list price, down 1.9 points. Pending sales fell 7.4%. The share going under contract within two weeks dropped 12.1 points to 37.3%. More supply, at 2.2 months, and fewer quick offers tell you buyers here are taking their time.

Rates rose, and buyers still came

Realtor.com reported that mortgage rates surged nearly 40 basis points in September 2026. Rates topped 7%, the first time since January 2025. CNBC reported the average contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage sat at 7.41% as of late October 2026. That is real pressure on monthly payments. CNBC also noted that a monthly payment on a median-priced home took up roughly 33% of a median family's income in 2025, up from 26% in 2022. Yet across Secondary Markets, buyers kept writing offers. The Real Estate Data Aggregator shows that. Realtor.com also reported that 20.8% of listings nationally took a price cut in September 2026. Pricing your home right still matters, even when demand is strong.

These numbers cover the three months ending August 31, 2026. A single block or street can read very differently from the ZIP code around it. If you want to know where your home sits in this picture, send me a note.