Published October 18, 2026 in Market Update

More homes sold even with mortgage rates at 7.40%

By Dennis Lue Yat

Real estate, Primary market

The rate is real. Freddie Mac put the 30-year fixed mortgage at 7.40% as of October 15, 2026. That is a three-year high. And yet, parts of this market kept moving.

The truth is simple. Higher rates slowed some ZIP codes and barely touched others. Where you live, and what you price your home at, still matters more than the headline rate.

Three ZIP codes led the sales surge

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted homes sold across the three months ending August 31, 2026. Three ZIP codes stood out.

ZIP 33401 led everything. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 153 homes sold there, up 61.1% from the same three months in 2025. Months of supply dropped 5.8 months to 6.4. That is a big shift in one year.

ZIP 33412 was next. Sales rose 40.4%, reaching 125 homes sold. Median days on market fell 17 days to 92, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. The median sale price climbed to $967,500, up 11.8% from a year before.

ZIP 33411 posted a 30.8% gain in homes sold, reaching 340. Pending sales there rose 22.2% to 352, and months of supply dropped 2.3 months to 3.9. The Real Estate Data Aggregator shows those are strong forward signals.

What the rate environment looks like right now

Freddie Mac also put the 15-year fixed rate at 6.71% as of October 15, 2026. Realtor.com reported that mortgage rates surged nearly 40 basis points in September alone. That kind of move changes monthly payments fast.

Nationally, the picture is mixed. The National Association of Realtors reported existing-home sales reached 3.99 million units in September 2026. Prices rose 1.3% year over year. Inventory nationally climbed to 1.60 million homes. So supply is building at the national level, even as local supply here tightened in most ZIP codes.

Local supply tightened almost everywhere

Even with rates at 7.40%, buyers here did not disappear. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 4,440 homes for sale and 2,938 pending sales across the full market in the three months ending August 31, 2026.

Homes for sale fell in almost every ZIP code compared with a year ago. ZIP 33436 saw the sharpest drop, down 27%, while ZIP 33418 fell 22.3% and ZIP 33412 fell 20.2%, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Less supply with more sales is a meaningful combination.

Prices: mostly steady, a few dips

Not every ZIP code posted a price gain. That is worth saying plainly.

ZIP 33477 led on price, with a median sale price of $820,000, up 30.2% from a year before. ZIP 33403 saw the steepest dip, with a median of $345,000, down 5.5%. ZIP 33463 slipped 4.9% to a median of $385,000. These are real differences, not rounding errors.

How fast are homes moving?

Days on market tells you how patient a buyer has to be, and how urgent a seller's pricing needs to be. The range here is wide.

ZIP 33403 moved fastest at 62 days, 16 days shorter than a year ago. ZIP 33408 took the longest at 116 days, though that was still 7 days shorter than the prior year. ZIP 33418 made the biggest improvement, shaving 27 days off its median, down to 74 days.

A closer look at the three biggest sales gainers

ZIP 33411 has the tightest supply of the three at 3.9 months and the most pending sales at 352. ZIP 33401 had the biggest sales jump but still carries 6.4 months of supply and the longest days on market of the three at 106 days. Pricing discipline matters more in 33401 than in 33411 right now.

One thing to watch: quick contracts

The share of homes going under contract within two weeks of listing is a quiet but honest signal. When it rises, buyers are ready. When it falls, they are waiting.

ZIP 33467 and 33414 both sit just above 24%, meaning roughly 1 in 4 listings there went under contract within two weeks. ZIP 33426 saw the biggest jump in this share, up 9.6 points from a year ago to 22.2%, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator.

Not every ZIP code is the same story

ZIP 33408 is worth noting separately. Sales fell 5.2% to 109 homes. Months of supply held at 7.4, unchanged from a year ago. Days on market sit at 116. The median sale price rose 16% to $615,000, but the sale-to-list ratio slipped to 93.6%. That means sellers are getting less of their asking price, even as the median climbed. Pricing to the market, not above it, is the practical move there.

ZIP 33463 also saw sales fall, down 6.2% to 166 homes. The median price dipped 4.9% to $385,000. New listings fell too, down 4.1%. Supply tightened but demand did not keep up. That is a different problem than a ZIP code with too many listings.

One street can read very differently from the ZIP code around it. The numbers above are a starting point, not a final answer for your home.