Published November 3, 2026 in Market Update

Santa Fe is moving faster even with higher mortgage rates

By April Aberle, REALTOR® | RE/MAX Crossroads Realty

Real estate, Santa Fe/Alvin

Mortgage rates topped 7% in September 2026, the first time since January 2025, according to Realtor.com. That is a real headwind for buyers. Yet in Santa Fe, the numbers from the Real Estate Data Aggregator tell a different story for the three months ending August 31, 2026. Buyers are still showing up, and priced-right homes are moving.

The big shift: homes are selling faster

In ZIP 77510, the larger of Santa Fe's two ZIP codes, the Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 75 homes sold. That is up 8.7% from the same three months in 2025. The median days on market dropped 17 days shorter, landing at 54 days. More sales, less waiting. That is the headline for sellers.

Prices held steady too. The Real Estate Data Aggregator put the median sale price in 77510 at $330,000, up just 0.5% from a year before. That is not a big jump. But it is a gain, not a loss, and that matters when rates are high.

Inventory shrank, and that helped sellers

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 90 homes for sale in 77510 during the period. That is down 25.6% from a year before. Fewer choices for buyers means less room to wait around. Months of supply fell to 3.7 months, down 1.7 months from 2025. That is a meaningful shift toward sellers.

Nationally, Realtor.com reported that active listings grew 5.5% year over year in September 2026, reaching 1.16 million homes. Santa Fe's 77510 moved the other direction. Supply tightened while sales rose. That combination gives sellers more leverage.

Buyers are still making offers close to asking price

The Real Estate Data Aggregator shows the average sale price in 77510 came in at 97.7% of list price, up 0.1 points from last year. That means buyers are not walking away, and they are not lowballing. Nationally, Realtor.com found that 20.8% of listings took a price cut in September 2026, the highest share since October 2022. Santa Fe's sellers, priced right, are largely avoiding that.

About 12% of homes in 77510 sold above list price, up 4.7 points from a year before, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. That is not the majority. But it is growing, and it tells you that some homes are drawing real competition.

ZIP 77517: a smaller, faster-moving slice of Santa Fe

The other Santa Fe ZIP code, 77517, is a smaller market. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted only 17 homes sold in the three months ending August 31, 2026, down 48.5% from 2025. Fewer sales make the numbers swing more. Take them with that in mind.

That said, 77517 moved fast. The median days on market was just 15 days, a full 44 days shorter than a year before, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Half of all homes went under contract within two weeks of listing. That share jumped 30 points from 2025. When a home was priced well here, it did not sit.

The median price in 77517 came in at $370,000, down 6.3% from 2025, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. With only 17 sales, that dip can reflect the mix of homes that happened to sell, not a broad price decline. One or two different sales could move that number.

What about Alvin?

Alvin's 77511 had a strong period too. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 154 homes sold, up 12.4% from a year before. The median sale price rose 5.2% to $299,863. Days on market came in at 49, three days shorter than 2025.

One note on Alvin: a Pearland mailing address does not mean Pearland ISD, and Alvin addresses can fall in Alvin ISD. Always verify the school district by address, not by city name.

The share of Alvin homes that sold above list price fell 8.6 points to 10.4%, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. And the share under contract within two weeks dropped 6 points to 19.5%. Sales are up, but buyers have a little more room to breathe than they did a year ago.

The rate picture nationally

Rates are real. The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that U.S. home prices rose 2.4% from August 2025 to August 2026. That is slow, steady growth, not a surge. The Santa Fe numbers fit that pattern. Prices are not racing up, but they are not falling either in 77510.

One more thing: these are ZIP code averages. One street, one neighborhood, one property type can read very differently from the whole. Santa Fe is acreage, horses, room to breathe, and small-town character. The home on a larger lot with a well and septic is a different product than a newer subdivision home, and the market treats them that way. If you want to know what your specific address looks like in this market, that is where a conversation helps.