Published October 18, 2026 in Market Update

Primary market sales slowed while inventory held steady

By Frances Marcou

Real estate, Primary market

Pricing and timing matter more right now. That is the one thing this market is telling us.

Fran Marcou has watched this market through many turns. Here is what the numbers say this time.

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 1,523 homes sold across the Primary market in the three months ending August 31, 2026. That is down 7% from the same three months in 2025. Fewer deals got done, plain and simple.

At the same time, the Real Estate Data Aggregator showed 2,070 homes for sale across the Primary market. That number was unchanged from a year before. More choices, fewer closings.

Nationally, Redfin reported that home sellers outnumbered buyers by 62.6% in September. Redfin also counted 928,892 buyers in the U.S. that month, the lowest level since 2013, against 1,510,784 sellers, the most since March 2020. That gap is showing up here too.

Pending sales across the Primary market fell to 1,470, down 4.4% from the same period in 2025, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. That tells us the slowdown was not just a one-month blip.

Rates are not helping. Freddie Mac put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.40% as of October 15, 2026. The 15-year rate averaged 6.71%. Redfin reported the typical homebuyer's monthly payment hit $2,777, the highest on record except for the week before.

What each ZIP code showed

The story was not the same in every corner of this market. Some ZIPs moved faster. Some sat longer. Here is how they lined up.

ZIP 37066 had the most homes sold: 402, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Its median price rose 9.5% to $480,995. But days on market stretched 11 days longer than a year ago, to 69 days.

ZIP 37075 had the highest median price at $545,000, though that was down 0.7% from 2025. Sales there fell 15.5%, the Real Estate Data Aggregator showed. Not every home sold fast, and not every price held.

ZIP 37188 stood out in one way. The Real Estate Data Aggregator showed 22% of homes sold above list price there, up 9.4 points from 2025. Its sale-to-list ratio of 99.9% was the highest of any ZIP in this group.

ZIP 37048 had a median price of $522,000, up 12.3%. Days on market fell 66 days shorter than a year before, to 57 days. That is a real shift, though only 24 homes sold, so one or two deals can move those numbers.

ZIP 37031 is worth a plain mention. Only 11 homes sold there, down 59.3%. The median days on market was 111, up 63 days from 2025. No home sold above list price. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 5.9 months of supply, the most of any ZIP here.

ZIP 37072 was the fastest market. The Real Estate Data Aggregator showed a median of 56 days, 1 day shorter than 2025. Sales there were unchanged year over year, at 117 homes.

ZIP 37073 averaged 93 days on market, up 27 days from 2025. New listings fell 34.5% there. Fewer homes came to market, and the ones that did took longer to sell.

ZIP 37148 was a different story. Sales rose 16.3% to 121 homes. But days on market stretched 11 days longer, to 67. Prices edged up 1.4% to $354,990. More buyers, but they took their time.

The wider picture

The National Association of Realtors reported 3.99 million existing-home sales in September 2026. Inventory nationally rose to 1.60 million homes. Prices increased 1.3% nationally. Realtor.com reported for-sale listings growing nearly 7% year over year in the week ending October 10, 2026.

That picture lines up with what the Real Estate Data Aggregator shows here. More supply, softer demand, prices mostly holding.

I am Fran Marcou, and "my job is to give you clarity, not a sales pitch." One street can read very differently from its whole ZIP code. The numbers above are a starting point, not the final word on your home.