Published October 18, 2026 in Market Update

Some parts of this market are still moving much faster than others

By Scott Peck

Real estate, Tier 5 - Bench / Opportunistic

These numbers cover the three months ending August 31, 2026. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 703 homes sold across Tier 5 this period. That is a real number, but it hides a lot. Some ZIP codes here are moving in 41 days. Others are sitting for 98. That gap is the whole story.

Nationally, Realtor.com reported that active listings topped 1.16 million homes for sale in September 2026. Mortgage rates climbed above 7% for the first time since January 2025, also according to Realtor.com. That backdrop matters, but what happens on your street matters more.

How fast are homes actually selling?

The Real Estate Data Aggregator shows median days on market ranging from 41 days in 78247 all the way to 98 days in 78121. That is not a small difference. A home sitting 57 extra days is a home that needs a different strategy.

ZIP 78247 is the quickest. The Real Estate Data Aggregator put median days on market there at 41 days, 7 days shorter than the same period a year ago. Nearly 1 in 4 homes there went under contract within two weeks of listing.

ZIP 78121 is the other end. Median days on market there hit 98 days, which is 19 days longer than a year ago. Homes are taking more than three months to find a buyer on average. That is a different conversation when you are setting a price.

How much supply is sitting out there?

ZIP 78266 has just 2.9 months of supply, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. That is the tightest in the group, and it dropped 1.6 months from a year ago. Sales there rose 51.8% year over year. That is a meaningful shift.

ZIP 78155 sits at 5.8 months of supply. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 573 homes for sale there against 303 sold in the period. Pending sales fell 6.9% from a year ago. Sellers there are working harder for every offer.

What are homes actually selling for?

Prices are softer in most of Tier 5. The Real Estate Data Aggregator shows median sale prices down year over year in four of the five ZIP codes. ZIP 78121 dropped 14.1%. ZIP 78266 dropped 11.2%. ZIP 78155 is the one exception, up 1.7%.

That said, sellers are still getting close to their asking price across the board. The Real Estate Data Aggregator shows sale-to-list ratios between 97.5% and 98.2% in all five ZIPs. Pricing right still works. Pricing too high is where homes stall.

Realtor.com reported that price cuts hit 20.8% of listings nationally in September 2026, the highest share since October 2022. That is the national picture. Here in Tier 5, the local numbers tell a more specific story depending on your ZIP.

Quick contracts: who is going fast?

ZIP 78247 and ZIP 78240 both had about 1 in 4 homes go under contract within two weeks. That is a real pocket of speed inside a market that, on average, looks slower. If your home is priced well in those ZIPs, buyers are paying attention quickly.

The bigger picture on rates

Redfin reported the weekly average mortgage rate hit 7.4% on October 8, 2026, a three-year high. That pushed the typical homebuyer's monthly payment to $2,777, also according to Redfin, the highest on record except for the week before. Fannie Mae's forecast, reported by CNBC on October 14, 2026, puts the 30-year fixed rate at 7.4% for the fourth quarter of 2026.

Higher rates slow buyers down. That is part of why pending sales across all of Tier 5 fell 7.6% from a year ago, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. It also makes pricing precision more important than ever. Buyers are doing the math very carefully right now.

One street can read very differently from the whole ZIP code. The averages above are a starting point, not the final word on your home. If you want to know where your address actually lands, I am happy to take a look.