Published October 22, 2026 in Market Update

One part of Sea Coast is still moving with real speed

By Vladimir Babic

Real estate, Sea Coast

Most of Sea Coast has slowed a little. More homes are sitting longer, and supply has grown in several ZIP codes. But Durham is reading differently. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted just 1.6 months of supply in ZIP 03824 for the three months ending August 31, 2026. That is the tightest number in this market. If you are buying or selling there, the pace is still real.

Pending sales in Durham jumped 50% from the same period a year ago, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. That means buyers are committing, not just browsing. And 52.8% of homes went under contract within two weeks of listing. More than half. That is not a slow market.

Homes sold in Durham rose 54.5% from a year before, the Real Estate Data Aggregator shows. That is a big jump. The median sale price came in at $713,313, up 4.1% year over year. Sellers there are getting full price too. The average sale closed at exactly 100% of list.

The rest of Sea Coast is a different story

Portsmouth (03801) saw 101 homes sold in the same period, but that was down 25.2% from a year ago. The median price dipped 7.3% to $790,000. Days on market stretched to 44, which is 12 days longer than last year. More listings came in, and supply rose to 3.4 months. It is not a broken market, but it is softer.

Dover (03820) held up better on price. The Real Estate Data Aggregator put the median at $594,500, up 7.1% year over year. Still, 54.1% of Dover homes went under contract within two weeks, the highest two-week share in the market. Days on market were 36, the shortest among the larger ZIP codes.

Greenland (03840) is the outlier on the other end. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 7 months of supply there, up 4.6 months from a year ago. Homes for sale rose 69.6%. Sales fell 43.3%. That is a meaningful shift for buyers who have more choices, and for sellers who need to price carefully.

A few smaller markets worth knowing

Eliot, ME (03903) had only 15 sales, but the numbers were sharp. The Real Estate Data Aggregator showed homes closing at 101.4% of list price, and 60% sold above list. Days on market were just 27, the fastest of any ZIP in this market. Fewer homes, but real competition.

Kittery Point (03905) and New Castle (03854) each had only 5 sales in the period. Small samples move numbers a lot, so treat those figures as a direction, not a firm trend. That said, New Castle saw 66.7% of homes go under contract within two weeks, and Kittery Point closed at 103.3% of list on average, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator.

What the national backdrop looks like

The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that U.S. home prices rose 2.6% from July 2025 to July 2026. That is steady, not dramatic. Freddie Mac put the 30-year fixed rate at 7.40% as of October 15, 2026. That rate shapes what buyers can afford, and it is part of why some markets are moving more slowly than a year ago.

Even so, Durham's numbers show that tight supply and strong buyer interest can coexist with higher rates. The search there can still move fast.

One more thing worth saying: these are ZIP code averages. One street inside Durham or Portsmouth can read very differently from the number above. If you want to know what is happening on your specific block, text me your address and I can tell you.