Published October 11, 2026 in Market Update

Primary market sales rose even with mortgage rates above 7%

By Beth DeAngelis

Real estate, Primary market

Freddie Mac put the 30-year fixed rate at 7.40% as of October 8, 2026. That is a real payment difference on your budget. And yet the Real Estate Data Aggregator still counted 1,163 homes sold across the Primary market in the three months ending August 31, 2026, up 6.8% from the same period a year before. People are still moving, on real timelines and real budgets, and that is the one fact that changes how you should read everything else here.

Nationally, the National Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales dipped 2.0% month over month in August 2026. Your Primary market went the other way. That gap between the national picture and your own ZIP code is exactly why local numbers matter more than headlines.

What each ZIP code showed

The story is not the same in every corner of the Lowcountry, and I will make sure that the numbers below show you where your ZIP code stands on its own terms.

Sales volume: two ZIPs rising, two easing

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 389 homes sold in ZIP 29910 in the three months ending August 31, 2026, up 19% from a year before. ZIP 29909 added 285 sales, up 14.5%. Those two ZIPs are carrying most of the market's growth. ZIP 29926 saw 197 sales, down 1.5%, and ZIP 29928 saw 292 sales, down 6.7%. Not every corner of the Primary market moved in the same direction, and I will make sure that you know which side of that line your address sits on.

Prices held steady across the board

The Real Estate Data Aggregator shows that median sale prices rose in all four ZIP codes compared with the same three months of 2025. ZIP 29909 led with an 8.9% gain, reaching $520,000. ZIP 29928 came in at $725,000, up 2.8%. ZIP 29910 reached $570,000, up 1.3%. ZIP 29926 reached $770,000, up 0.5%. Gains were modest in most ZIPs, but prices did not fall anywhere in the Primary market during this period.

How fast homes are moving

ZIP 29926 had the shortest wait, with the Real Estate Data Aggregator putting median days on market at 43 days, though that was 1 day longer than a year before. ZIPs 29910 and 29928 each sat at 56 days, both shorter than a year ago: 7 days shorter in 29910 and 13 days shorter in 29928. ZIP 29909 took the longest at 79 days, though that was 2 days shorter than the year before. I will make sure that before you set your timeline, you know what the pace looks like on your specific street.

Homes going under contract quickly

One of the cleaner signals in this data is how many homes went under contract within two weeks of listing. The Real Estate Data Aggregator put that share at 34.1% in ZIP 29926, up 8.1 points from a year before. ZIP 29928 came in at 25.9%, up 6.9 points. ZIP 29910 sat at 25%, up 9.1 points. ZIP 29909 showed 18%, up 7.5 points. Every ZIP improved on this measure year over year, even with a 7.40% rate, according to Freddie Mac, shaping every buyer's math.

Supply is tighter than it looks nationally

The National Association of Realtors reported a national months' supply of 4.9 months, which they noted as the highest level in over ten years. Your Primary market tells a different story. The Real Estate Data Aggregator put months of supply at 2.9 months in ZIP 29910 and 3.0 months in ZIP 29926, both well below that national figure. ZIP 29909 sat at 3.8 months and ZIP 29928 at 5.2 months. The Primary market as a whole had 1,417 homes for sale in the three months ending August 31, 2026, down 9.3% from a year before. Fewer choices for buyers, which shapes how you price if you are selling.

What the rate environment means for your decision

Freddie Mac put the 15-year fixed rate at 6.73% as of October 8, 2026, alongside that 7.40% 30-year rate. CNBC reported on October 3, 2026 that rates hit their highest level in three years, above 7.5% at that point. That context matters: buyers are doing the math carefully, and sellers who price with that math in mind are the ones closing. The Real Estate Data Aggregator shows sale-to-list ratios holding at 96.1% in ZIP 29928, 96.8% in ZIP 29926, 97.1% in ZIP 29910 and 97.2% in ZIP 29909. Homes are selling close to their asking prices, which tells you the market is still honest about value.

One street can read very differently from the ZIP code around it, and I will make sure that after we talk, you have the picture for your block, not just the broader number.