Published October 11, 2026 in Market Update

More homes came on in Peabody, but buyers still moved fast

By Cynthia Nina-Soto | Nina-Soto Realty

Real estate, Peabody (SF)

More sellers showed up in Peabody this summer. That gave buyers a little more room to compare. But don't read that as a slow market. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 144 new listings in ZIP 01960 for the three months ending August 31, 2026, up 24.1% from the same period in 2025. And buyers still moved fast.

Nationally, Realtor.com reported that active listings topped 1.16 million homes in September 2026. Peabody moved the same direction. The Real Estate Data Aggregator put homes for sale here at 58, up 31.8% from a year before. More choice is real. But 1.5 months of supply is still a seller's market by any measure.

Buyers didn't slow down

The Real Estate Data Aggregator shows the median days on market in ZIP 01960 was 20 days. That's only 2 days longer than the same period in 2025. Homes went fast, and most of them went for more than asking.

That 66.1% figure, from the Real Estate Data Aggregator, is down 4.3 points from a year ago. So a few more homes are taking longer. But two out of three still went under contract inside two weeks. That's not a slow market.

Prices held up, even as the national picture got complicated

The Real Estate Data Aggregator put the median sale price in ZIP 01960 at $697,050 for the three months ending August 31, 2026. That's up 4.2% from the same months in 2025. The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported U.S. house prices rose 2.6% from July 2025 to July 2026. Peabody outpaced that.

The sale-to-list ratio slipped 1.2 points, and the share of homes selling above asking dropped 2.8 points. Small moves. Sellers are still getting over asking, just not by quite as much. That's worth knowing when you price.

Rates are making buyers think twice nationally

Realtor.com reported mortgage rates climbed above 7% for the first time since January 2025. Housingwire put the 10-year Treasury yield at 5.35% as of October 10, 2026, and forecasts rates staying between 5.75% and 6.75% through the rest of 2026. That's real pressure on what buyers can afford.

And yet, the Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 127 pending sales in ZIP 01960 for the three months ending August 31, 2026, up 17.6% from a year before. Buyers here are still moving. Higher rates slow some people down. They don't stop everyone.

What this means if you're selling

More listings means buyers have options they didn't have last year. Realtor.com reported that 20.8% of listings nationally saw price cuts in September 2026, the highest share since October 2022. Peabody hasn't gone that direction yet. But that's the risk when a home is priced wrong. Smart pricing still matters more than it did two years ago.

What this means if you're buying

You have more to look at than you did last summer. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 58 homes for sale in ZIP 01960, up 31.8%. Still, 1.5 months of supply means good homes go quickly. If you see something that fits, waiting a week to decide is a risk.