Ada County Housing Market, Week of October 5, 2026

Ada County, Idaho Market Pulse

Week of October 5 · from Luke Gilbert's team

This week's lean

An even week in the market.

Asking and signing moved together. Neither buyers nor sellers gained real ground.

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 made the biggest move on price this week. The median asking price on new construction homes for sale dropped $13,277 to $588,439. If you are shopping for a home right now, that is where the room to negotiate is showing up.

The resale side tells a different story. Sellers of existing homes nudged their asking prices up, but the homes that actually went under contract came in at a lower median price, and fewer of them sold. In plain terms, sellers are listing higher than buyers are paying.

Existing homes

The median asking price on resale homes rose to $624,340, up $3,650 from last week. There are 890 homes for sale, up 7. Those homes currently on the market have been sitting a median of 33 days, down 2. Asking prices and supply both edged up, and the listings out there have been waiting a little less time.

The pending side is where the softness shows. Resale homes going under contract came in at a median of $546,920, down $5,840. The number of pending deals fell to 452, down 33. That drop in signed contracts is one of the bigger shifts on the board this week.

The homes that did go under contract took a median of 17 days to get there, unchanged from last week. My read is that buyers are still acting quickly on the right house at the right price. They are just being pickier about what qualifies. If you are selling, pricing close to what buyers are actually paying matters more than what the listing next door is asking.

New construction

New builds are where the price action is. Active asking prices fell to $588,439, down $13,277. Builders added inventory, with 479 homes for sale, up 11. Those new homes currently on the market have been sitting a median of 64 days, up 4. That is roughly twice as long as resale listings have been waiting.

On the pending side, new homes going under contract came in at a median of $579,765, down just $320. The count slipped to 117, down 2. Those homes took a median of 53 days to go under contract, down 4.

Here is the interesting contrast. New construction asking prices sit below resale asking prices this week, yet new construction pending prices sit above resale pending prices. If I had to guess, builders are trimming sticker prices to get buyers in the door, and the buyers who commit are choosing the larger or better-equipped homes. Either way, a new build takes far longer to go under contract than a resale home, which gives buyers time and leverage.

The bigger picture

The 30-year fixed rate averaged 7.4% as of October 8, per Freddie Mac. For most buyers, that rate drives the monthly payment as much as the price does.

When borrowing costs are this high, sellers do most of the adjusting. You can see it in builders cutting asking prices and in fewer resale contracts getting signed. Builders carry the cost of every home that sits, so they tend to move first with price cuts, rate buydowns (where the builder pays to lower your interest rate), or closing cost help. If you are a buyer, it is worth asking about all three. If you are selling a resale home, your competition includes those builder incentives, not just other listings.

Here is my take. This is a market that rewards preparation on both sides. Buyers who know their numbers can find real flexibility, especially in new construction. Sellers who price to what homes are actually going under contract for are still finding buyers in 17 days. If you want to talk through what this means for your situation, just hit reply.