Published October 18, 2026 in Market Update

Primary market inventory stayed tight even with mortgage rates at 7.40%

By Maggie Love

Real estate, Primary market

Freddie Mac put the 30-year fixed rate at 7.40% as of October 15, 2026. That is a three-year high. Yet the Primary market kept selling. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 1,374 homes sold in the three months ending August 31, 2026. That is down just 1.8% from a year before. For homeowners, fewer listings mean less competition. For buyers, choices are still limited even at these borrowing costs.

The national picture looks different. The National Association of Realtors reported 1.60 million homes for sale across the U.S. in September 2026. Nationally, sellers are outnumbering buyers. Here, the opposite is true. Inventory shrank even as rates rose.

Rates are high. Sellers here are not flooding the market.

Nationally, Freddie Mac confirmed the 30-year rate averaged 7.40% on October 15, 2026. Realtor.com put the median days on market in the U.S. at 61 days for the week ending October 10, 2026. In this market, most ZIP codes are moving faster than that. That gap matters if you are deciding when to list.

Where prices rose and where they dipped

Not every ZIP moved the same way. The Real Estate Data Aggregator shows prices climbed in most areas. A few slipped a little. That is worth knowing before you pick a number.

Homes selling above list price: more common than you might think

Even at a 7.40% rate, buyers are still competing in several ZIP codes. The Real Estate Data Aggregator found that in 76051, 33.3% of homes sold above list price in the three months ending August 31, 2026. That share jumped 11.2 points from a year before. In 76054, 30.7% sold above list, up 14.9 points. Not every home sold fast, but the ones priced well drew real competition.

Supply is lean. That shapes what you can do.

The Real Estate Data Aggregator shows months of supply below 3.5 in every ZIP in this market. That is lean. 76054 had just 1.9 months of supply, down a full month from a year ago. 76092 had the most at 3.5 months, still not a lot. For sellers, lean supply means less head-to-head competition. For buyers, it means moving carefully still matters.

A closer look at two ZIP codes worth watching

ZIP 75022 had a strong quarter. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 112 homes sold, up 17.9% from a year ago. The median sale price reached $820,000, up 10.1%. Homes for sale fell 4.8% to 99. Sellers got 99.3% of list price on average. That is a market where pricing well pays off.

ZIP 76248 tells a different story. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 167 homes sold, up 14.4%. But the median sale price slipped to $650,000, down 7.8%. Homes for sale rose 15.6%. More choices for buyers, a little more pressure on price for sellers. Not every ZIP reads the same, even when the market overall looks tight.

What the national numbers add

The National Association of Realtors reported existing-home prices rose 1.3% in September 2026 across the U.S. This market's strongest ZIPs beat that by a wide margin. The National Association of Realtors also counted 3.99 million existing-home sales nationally in September 2026. Locally, the pace held up well against that backdrop.