Published October 11, 2026 in Market Update

More homes are for sale, but buyers are still showing up

By Tamika R. Johnson, MBA, Associate Broker

Real estate, Primary buy box (2)

Here is the real story: more homes are competing for the same pool of buyers. That changes what it takes to win.

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 1,228 homes for sale across this market in the three months ending August 31, 2026. That is up 14.8% from the same period a year ago. Nationally, Realtor.com reported active listings topped 1.16 million homes for sale in September 2026. Supply is up everywhere.

But buyers did not disappear. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 1,314 pending sales in this market over the same three months. That is up 0.5% from a year ago. More supply, and still more contracts being signed.

So the market has not stalled. What it has done is shift. Buyers now have more to compare. That means a home that is overpriced, or not well prepared, sits longer. The ones priced right and showing well are still moving.

Rates are not helping either side right now

Freddie Mac put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.40% as of October 8, 2026. The 15-year averaged 6.73%. Realtor.com noted that mortgage rates climbed above 7% for the first time since January 2025. That is a real cost for buyers, and it is keeping some on the sideline.

Realtor.com also reported that price cuts hit 20.8% of listings nationally in September 2026, the highest share since October 2022. That tells you sellers who priced too high are being forced to adjust. It is not a market-wide collapse. It is a correction happening listing by listing.

Each ZIP code is telling a different story

The market-wide numbers are a starting point, not the whole answer. Look at how different things read ZIP by ZIP.

ZIP 21046 had a median of just 22 days on market. ZIP 21216 sat at 69 days. That is not the same market. It is the same data period, but a very different experience depending on where your home sits.

Where buyers are still moving fast

The Real Estate Data Aggregator tracked the share of homes that went under contract within two weeks of listing. In ZIP 21045, that share was 66.2%. In ZIP 21044, it was 62.6%. In ZIP 21046, 60.4%. More than half of homes in those ZIPs found a buyer in under two weeks.

At the other end, ZIP 20782 saw just 18% of homes go under contract that fast. That is a 12.4-point drop from a year ago, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. More supply, slower pace. Sellers there need to price with that in mind.

Prices are mixed, and that is worth being honest about

Not every ZIP held its price. The Real Estate Data Aggregator showed ZIP 21044 down 9.2% in median sale price compared with a year ago. ZIP 21037 was down 7.4%. ZIP 20743 was down 4.8%.

Others held or gained. ZIP 21216 was up 3.2%. ZIP 20784 was up 3.8%. ZIP 20783 was up 2.9%. The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported U.S. house prices rose 2.6% from July 2025 to July 2026, so some of these ZIPs are outpacing the national trend and some are not.

A price dip does not mean a ZIP is broken. In ZIP 21044, the Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 159 homes sold, up 13.6% from a year ago. More homes sold even as the median price came down. Buyers showed up. They just had more to choose from, and sellers had to price accordingly.

What this means if you are selling

Buyers have options now. That is the real change. When inventory was thin, a home could be overpriced and still find a buyer. That is harder to count on today.

The homes still selling above list price prove demand is there. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 52.8% of homes in ZIP 21045 selling above list price. In ZIP 21046, it was 47.9%. In ZIP 21044, 48.4%. Those are not soft results. They are what happens when a home is priced right and prepared well.

Realtor.com reported that 20.8% of listings nationally took a price cut in September 2026. That is the price you pay for starting too high. Getting the number right from the start is more important now than it was a year ago.

What this means if you are buying

More inventory means more room to compare. The Real Estate Data Aggregator shows 1,228 homes for sale across this market right now. A year ago that number was 14.8% lower. You have more to look at.

That said, the well-priced homes in the faster ZIPs are still moving in days, not months. In ZIP 21046, the median was 22 days on market. If you find the right home, do not assume you have time to think about it for a week.

Freddie Mac's 7.40% average on a 30-year fixed rate as of October 8, 2026 is real math that affects your payment. Know your number before you start making offers.

One more thing worth saying: the numbers above are for full ZIP codes. One street can read very differently from the ZIP as a whole. Condition, price point, and block all affect what a buyer sees. If you want to know what the data says specifically about your address, that is a different conversation than this post can have.