Published October 18, 2026 in Market Update

More homes are on the market, but buyers are still showing up

By Zvi Allman

Real estate, Primary market

Here is the one thing worth knowing as of October 18, 2026. The National Association of Realtors counted 1.60 million homes for sale across the U.S. in September 2026. More choice for buyers is real. But in this market, buyers are still writing offers. That matters for anyone thinking about selling or buying right now.

What the local numbers say

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 656 homes for sale across this market in the three months ending August 31, 2026. At the same time, 705 sales were pending. Pending means a buyer and seller have agreed on price and the home is under contract, waiting to close. More homes for sale than a year ago, and yet buyers are keeping pace. That is the story.

The Real Estate Data Aggregator also counted 840 new listings coming to market in that same period. Fresh supply keeps arriving. Buyers are still meeting it.

Rates are not helping, but they are not stopping things either

Freddie Mac put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.40% as of October 15, 2026. The 15-year fixed averaged 6.71%. Those numbers are high. They slow some buyers down. They do not appear to be stopping deals here.

What is happening ZIP by ZIP

The market is not one thing. Some ZIP codes are moving fast. Others are slower. Here is a look at median sale prices and days on market across the ZIPs where we have full data, for the three months ending August 31, 2026.

Some ZIP codes are moving in under 25 days. The Real Estate Data Aggregator put the median at 21 days in 10980, 22 days in 10954, 23 days in 10965, and 24 days in both 10989 and 10956. Others are taking much longer. In 10986, the median was 79 days. In 10968, it was 54 days. Same county, very different pace.

Where sellers are still getting above their asking price

Sale-to-list ratio means what a home actually sold for, compared to what the seller asked. Above 100% means the buyer paid more than the asking price. The Real Estate Data Aggregator found that ratio above 100% in most ZIP codes here. That is a quiet sign that buyers are still competing, even with more homes to choose from.

Not every ZIP looks like that. In 10968, only 9.1% of homes sold above list. In 10986, it was 16.7%. In 10977, it was 24.7%, down 24.4 points from a year before, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. More supply in those areas is giving buyers more room.

A few ZIP codes worth watching closely

ZIP 10977 had 85 homes sold in the three months ending August 31, 2026, up 54.5% from the same period in 2025, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. The median price there rose 4.6% to $920,400. Sales volume jumped, price held up. That is a healthy combination for sellers.

ZIP 10989 is also worth noting. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted homes for sale up 138.5% year over year there. That is a lot of new supply. And yet 75% of homes sold above list, and the sale-to-list ratio hit 103.4%. Buyers absorbed the new inventory without flinching.

ZIP 10974 tells a different story. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 11.7 months of supply there. Months of supply means how long it would take to sell every home currently listed, at the current pace of sales. Anything above six months generally favors buyers. At 11.7 months, sellers there face a slower, more patient market.

What this means if you are selling

More homes on the market means buyers have options. That is true nationally, per the National Association of Realtors, and it is true locally. Buyers are still moving, but they are comparing. Pricing a home right from day one matters more now than it did a year ago. So does how the home shows.

The Real Estate Data Aggregator found that in ZIP 10901, the share of homes selling above list dropped 14 points year over year. Days on market there rose 17 days. That does not mean homes are not selling. It means sellers who price carefully are still getting full value, and some are getting more.

What this means if you are buying

More supply is a real shift. Realtor.com reported for-sale listings growing nearly 7% year over year in the U.S. for the week ending October 10, 2026. Locally, the Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 840 new listings across this market in the three months ending August 31, 2026. You have more to look at than you did a year ago.

That said, in the faster ZIP codes, good homes are still going quickly. In 10956, 15.7% of homes went under contract within two weeks of listing, up 9.8 points from a year ago, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Being ready to move when you find the right home still matters.

One last thing worth saying plainly: a ZIP code average can hide a lot. One street can read very differently from the ZIP code around it. If you want to know what is actually happening on your block, or for a home like yours, that is a conversation worth having. You can also look this up on your own, and if you do not need me, that is a fine outcome too. 🏡