Ada County Housing Market, Week of October 26, 2026

Ada County, Idaho Market Pulse

Week of October 26 · from Luke Gilbert's team

This week's lean

Sellers held the cards this week.

Signed prices firmed and buyers moved quickly. Demand did the talking this week.

What moved · resale · vs last week

The full board · vs last week

Signed = went under contract. Days = median time on market for listings, or median time to contract for signed. Exact figures in the story below.

Builders in Ada County keep adding homes, and fewer buyers are signing for them. The count of new construction homes for sale rose to 549 this week, up 25. That count has now climbed 12 weeks in a row, each week since the week of August 10. Meanwhile, only 114 new homes went under contract, the lowest of any week I have saved.

Back in the issue for the week of October 19, I said brand new homes were piling up. That has not let up, and this week builders cut prices too. If you are buying, the clearest room to negotiate is still with builders. If you are selling a resale home, you have fewer competing resale listings, but a growing pile of new builds nearby is part of your competition.

Existing homes

The median asking price on resale homes for sale is $636,760, up $6,900 from last week. That is five weeks in a row of increases, each week since the week of September 28. Listings fell by 24 to 851, down three weeks in a row since the week of October 12. Homes still for sale have been sitting a median of 35 days, unchanged. That number tracks homes waiting for a buyer, not how fast homes sell.

Signed deals firmed up a bit. Resale homes under contract came in at a median of $549,850, up $7,500, and the count rose by 12 to 460. Both have risen two weeks in a row, each week since the week of October 19. Those homes took a median of 19 days to go under contract, up 2 from last week. That is slower than a few weeks ago but down 6 days from 25 days a year earlier.

Here is my take. Resale buyers are still showing up and signing, but they sign well below what sellers are asking. If you are selling, price against recent contracts, not the listing down the street.

New construction

The median asking price on new homes for sale fell to $592,442, down $7,494. Since the week of August 3, that figure is down $60,548 (9.3%) from $652,990. New homes for sale have been sitting a median of 71 days, up 3. That is up 12 days from 59 days in the week of September 28.

On the pending side, new homes under contract came in at a median of $567,901, down $9,937. Those homes took a median of 72 days to go under contract, up 6, and that number has risen three weeks in a row, each week since the week of October 12.

New builds now ask less than resale homes but still go under contract at a higher median price, and they take far longer to get there. If I had to guess, builders with this much unsold inventory heading into winter will be more flexible on price and incentives than they have been all year.

The bigger picture

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 7.24% as of October 29, 2026, per Freddie Mac. That is down 0.04 percentage points since 7.28% as of October 1, 2026. It is a small move. The Fed held steady in October, but investors expect another hike in December, so plan around rates staying high rather than falling soon.

This week brings the midterm elections Tuesday and the jobs report Friday, and both could nudge rate quotes. Inflation data follows on November 12 and November 25. If inflation runs hot, expect more cautious buyers and more pressure on sellers to cut prices or cover closing costs. With rates this high, ask builders about a rate buydown, where they pay to lower your interest rate. It can shrink your monthly payment more than a modest price cut.

The short version: builders are carrying more homes and getting fewer contracts, while resale sellers face less competition but buyers who negotiate. If you want to talk through what this means for your plans, just hit reply.