Published October 4, 2026 in Market Update

Fairfield County, CT inventory is still tight, even with more new listings

By tara chlupsa

Real estate, Primary market

Here is the number that matters most right now. Smart MLS counted just 458 homes for sale across Fairfield County, CT in the three months ending July 31, 2026. That is down 9.7% from the same period a year ago. Nationally, Realtor.com reported active listings were up 6.3% year over year. Connecticut is moving in the opposite direction.

New listings did rise. The MLS counted 864 new listings across the market, up 7.6% from a year ago. More sellers came forward. But inventory is still tight. The MLS counted 458 homes for sale, down 9.7% from a year ago. Buyers still don't have much to choose from.

Pending sales were up 5.7% year over year, according to the MLS. Buyers are moving. That tells you demand is real, not soft.

Rates are a headwind, but buyers are still showing up

Freddie Mac put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.28% as of October 1, 2026. The 15-year averaged 6.60%. CNBC reported that a Mortgage News Daily survey put rates as high as 7.58% on a single day in late September. Realtor.com noted that rates crossed 7% in late September for the first time since January 2025. That is a real cost. And yet the pending sales number here went up, not down.

What this means if you are selling

With only 458 homes for sale and demand holding steady, sellers still have leverage. But pricing is not automatic. Homes that are priced right and presented well are the ones drawing multiple offers. Price too high and you sit. The market will tell you quickly.

What this means if you are buying

You have more fresh options than you did a year ago. The 864 new listings is a real increase. But supply is still thin. When the location and condition are right, waiting usually costs you the house.

How each ZIP code looked

The market-wide numbers tell one story. Each ZIP code tells its own. Here is what the Real Estate Data Aggregator counted for the three months ending July 31, 2026.

A few ZIP codes worth a closer look

ZIP 06853, which covers Rowayton, CT, had only 6 homes for sale, down 40% from a year ago, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. The median sale price was $2,886,500, up 40.8%. Homes sold in a median of 14 days, 14 days faster than the year before. Nearly 7 in 10 homes sold above list price. That is an extreme end of this market.

ZIP 06824 in Fairfield, CT had 155 new listings, up 10.7%, and 53.3% of homes went under contract within two weeks, up 10 points from a year ago. The Real Estate Data Aggregator put the median sale price at $1,365,000, up 15.7%. Buyers there are moving fast.

ZIP 06850 in Norwalk, CT saw 70.8% of homes sell above list price, up 12.1 points, with a median of just 27 days on market, 8 days shorter than a year ago. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 79 new listings there, up 29.5%. More supply, but it is getting absorbed quickly.

ZIP 06855, also in Norwalk, CT, moved a little differently. The median sale price dipped 5.1% to $875,000. Days on market rose 9 days to 35. The share of homes selling above list fell 14.1 points. That one ZIP ran cooler than its neighbors. Condition and price still drove outcomes, but the margin for error was smaller.

The national picture versus here

The National Association of Realtors reported that the national months' supply of homes reached 4.9 months, the highest in over ten years. Here, the tightest ZIP, 06853, sat at 1 month. Even the loosest ZIP in this market, 06855, was at just 2.9 months. This market does not look like the national one.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that U.S. house prices rose 2.1% year over year between the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026. Several ZIPs here ran well ahead of that pace.

One more thing. The numbers above cover whole ZIP codes. One street, one school district line, one block closer to the water can read very differently from the ZIP total. If you want to know what your specific address looks like against what actually sold near you, that is a different and more useful conversation.