Published September 25, 2026 in Market Update

Rates are high, but one part of Sea Coast still moved fast

By Vladimir Babic

Real estate, Sea Coast

Freddie Mac put the 30-year fixed rate at 7.03% on September 24, 2026. That is real money added to every monthly payment. But in ZIP 03903, the Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 60% of homes selling above list price in the three months ending July 31, 2026. That tells you buyers were still competing, even at these rates. Pricing right still matters.

ZIP 03903 led Sea Coast on above-list sales

In ZIP 03903, the Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 15 homes sold in the three months ending July 31, 2026. Sixty percent of them sold above list. The median sale price held at $700,000, exactly where it was a year before. Homes went under contract in a median of 13 days. That is 26 days faster than the same period in 2025. Fewer listings came to market, down 32.3% from a year ago. Less supply, same price, faster pace.

ZIP 03905 and 03823 also saw strong above-list activity

ZIP 03905 had only 5 homes sold, so read it carefully. But the Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 80% of those selling above list, with an average sale-to-list ratio of 103.6%. ZIP 03823 saw 44.4% of its 9 sales go above list, and 75% of homes went under contract within two weeks of listing. Small sample sizes, but both point to real buyer demand in pockets of Sea Coast.

The bigger ZIP codes told a mixed story

ZIP 03801 is the largest ZIP in this market. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 101 homes sold there in the three months ending July 31, 2026, down 23.5% from a year before. The median sale price dipped 16.8% to $735,000. Homes for sale rose 30.8%. More supply, fewer buyers, longer waits. Still, 51.2% of homes went under contract within two weeks of listing. The market did not stop. It slowed and sorted.

ZIP 03820 told a different story. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 108 homes sold, up 3.8% from a year ago. The median sale price rose 12.2% to $602,214. Homes for sale fell 2%. That tighter supply helped push prices up. Days on market stretched 11 days longer than a year before, but 55.9% of homes still went under contract within two weeks.

ZIP 03870 saw the biggest price jump, but fewer above-list sales

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 31 homes sold in ZIP 03870 in the three months ending July 31, 2026, up 72.2% from a year before. The median sale price rose 37.5% to $1,300,000. But only 22.6% of homes sold above list, down 21.8 points from a year ago. More volume, higher prices, but buyers pushed back harder on individual listings. Pricing precisely mattered more here, not less.

ZIP 03840 had the most supply pressure

In ZIP 03840, the Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 6.3 months of supply in the three months ending July 31, 2026, up 2.8 months from a year before. That is the most supply of any ZIP in this market. Only 17 homes sold, down 15%. Even so, the median sale price rose 8.8% to $972,500, and 41.2% of homes sold above list. More homes to choose from meant buyers took their time, 50 days on market on average. But well-priced homes still found buyers.

National context: rates and prices

Freddie Mac also reported a 15-year fixed rate of 6.42% on September 24, 2026. The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that U.S. home prices rose 2.1% year over year between the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026. Realtor.com reported that national median list prices fell 1.3% year over year in August 2026. Sea Coast's price moves in several ZIPs ran well ahead of that national trend, both up and down.