Published September 30, 2026 in Market Update

Tacoma still has fast-moving pockets even with higher mortgage rates

By Lisa Wray

Real estate, Tacoma

Realtor.com put the average 30-year mortgage rate at 6.67% in August 2026. That number gets a lot of attention. But the Real Estate Data Aggregator counted homes in ZIP 98406 going under contract within two weeks at a rate of 69.8%, with a median of just 6 days on market, in the three months ending July 31, 2026. The rate is real. So is the speed. Both things are true at once.

That gap is the whole story. One part of Tacoma is moving fast. Another is sitting longer. Your outcome depends on which side of that line your home is on.

The fastest ZIP codes, three months ending July 31, 2026

ZIP 98406 led every ZIP code tracked. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 69.8% of homes there going under contract within two weeks. The median days on market was 6 days. Homes sold at 101.7% of list price on average. That is a place where pricing well still draws real competition.

ZIP 98403 was close behind. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 68% of homes going under contract within two weeks there, up 21.7 points from the same period in 2025. The median was 9 days on market. Sellers there averaged 101.1% of list price.

Not every ZIP moved that fast

ZIP 98424 is a different picture. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted only 41.2% of homes going under contract within two weeks there. Months of supply reached 4.8, up 3.1 months from a year before. Median days on market was 14. That is not a crisis, but it is a slower pace, and sellers there need to know it.

ZIP 98443 had 7.1 months of supply, the most of any ZIP in this data. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted only 10 homes sold in the three months ending July 31, 2026. That is a small number, so one or two sales can move the figures. Still, pending sales fell 45.5% from a year before. Worth watching.

What rates are doing across the market

Realtor.com reported that mortgage rates climbed to 6.67% in August 2026, up from a low of 6.05% in February. That rise does slow some buyers. Realtor.com also reported that 20.4% of listings nationally carried price cuts in August 2026. Not every seller gets to ignore the rate environment.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that U.S. house prices rose 2.6% from July 2025 to July 2026, and 0.3% from the prior month in July on a seasonally adjusted basis. Prices are still moving up nationally, just more slowly than before.

Prices by ZIP code, three months ending July 31, 2026

ZIP 98465 shows a median sale price down 22.4% from a year before, at $535,000. That is a large shift. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted only 27 homes sold there in the three months ending July 31, 2026, so a few high or low sales can move the median significantly. Volume was up 35% year over year, which tells a different story than the price line alone.

ZIP 98443 went the other way. Median price rose 14%, to $672,500. But only 10 homes sold. Fewer sales, higher prices, and 7.1 months of supply. That combination is worth reading carefully before drawing conclusions.

Above-list sales: where buyers are still competing

Even with rates at 6.67%, more than half the homes sold in ZIP 98465 went above list price, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. ZIP 98418 was close, at 48.9%. That does not happen in a market where buyers have given up.

The broader Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue picture

Realtor.com reported a median home price of $750,000 for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area in August 2026. That metro figure sits well above most of the Tacoma ZIP codes in this data, which ranged from $435,000 to $723,750. Tacoma still offers a real price difference within the same metro.

Realtor.com also reported that median asking rent in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro was $1,895 in August 2026, down 0.5% from a year before. Rents dipping a little while prices hold is a detail worth knowing if you are weighing owning against renting.

One more thing. The numbers above are for whole ZIP codes. A single street can read very differently from the ZIP it sits in. A block with more updated homes, a better view, or a quieter setting can move faster and for more money than the ZIP median suggests. The reverse is also true.