Published October 18, 2026 in Market Update

Kemah buyers are still writing contracts despite rates above 7%

By Lisa Marie Sanders

Real estate, Kemah, TX

You may have heard that mortgage rates topped 7% again. Realtor.com reported that milestone on September 30, 2026, the first time since January 2025. That is real, and the math on a monthly payment is tighter because of it. But in Kemah, buyers did not stop. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 53 pending sales in ZIP 77565 for the three months ending August 31, 2026. That is up 55.9% from the same months a year before.

Pending sales are contracts signed but not yet closed. They show what buyers decided to do right now, at today's rates. The number says demand in Kemah is real.

What sold, and for how much

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 44 homes sold in ZIP 77565 for the three months ending August 31, 2026. That is up 18.9% from the same period in 2025. The median sale price came in at $346,335, up 3.8% from a year ago. Prices moved up, not down. The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that U.S. house prices rose 2.6% from July 2025 to July 2026. Kemah's 3.8% gain ran a little ahead of that national figure.

Homes are selling closer to asking price

The Real Estate Data Aggregator put the average sale-to-list ratio at 98.2% for the three months ending August 31, 2026. That is up 0.6 points from a year ago. Sellers are getting nearly every dollar they ask. Not every home went fast, though. The median days on market was 91 days. That is 29 days shorter than the same period last year, which is a meaningful improvement. Still, 91 days is not a quick sale. Price carefully and give it time.

Fewer homes to choose from

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 66 homes for sale in ZIP 77565 for the three months ending August 31, 2026. That is down 27.5% from a year ago. New listings also fell, down 16.9% to 54 homes. Nationally, Realtor.com reported active listings grew to 1.16 million in September 2026. Kemah moved the opposite way. Less supply here, while buyers keep coming, is part of why prices held up.

What about rates going forward

Realtor.com reported that 20.8% of listings nationally took a price cut in September 2026, the highest share since October 2022. That tells you sellers in some markets are feeling the rate pressure. CNBC reported that Fannie Mae forecasts a 30-year fixed rate of 7.5% through 2027. CNBC also reported that pending home sales nationally fell 8.5% year over year in September, according to Zillow. Kemah's 55.9% gain in pending sales stands apart from that national trend. That does not mean rates do not matter here. It means buyers here are still deciding to move.

One more thing worth knowing. The Real Estate Data Aggregator shows that 4.6 months of supply sat in ZIP 77565 for the three months ending August 31, 2026. That is down 2.9 months from a year ago. Four to six months is generally considered a balanced market. Kemah is at the lower edge of that range and moving tighter.

These are ZIP code numbers. One street in Kemah can read very differently from the whole 77565 picture. A home near the water, or on a quieter inland block, may have its own story.