February 2026 Market Update

Welcome to Mercury in Retrograde! If you’re not familiar with it, here is a link to explain it. https://www.almanac.com/content/mercury-retrograde-dates  Basically, it has to do with the planets and Mercury appears to be moving backwards. What it does is cause a disruption in the energy of the world. Like a full moon on steroids! You may have noticed pedestrians stepping out right in front of you even though they see you and you have the right of way, or more cars that are driving more erratically than normal. Even in relationships, I have friends that tend to get in big fights during this time, break up and get back together after. I always send him a warning text! Even this war started when Mercury went into Retrograde! It comes around 4 times per year for 2 to 3 weeks (this one ends March 20), and then there is the hangover…
 
How does this relate to real estate? One of the big pieces of advice is do not sign any contracts or start new projects when Mercury is in Retrograde. We see an uptick in cancellations during these times of the year. We also see a lot of unnecessary complications, primarily brought on by confusion in communication. I have a fabulous new listing coming on and discussed it with my seller. We agreed, let’s hold off until things settle down. Hopefully, the war will be resolved at that point – or sooner!
 
As for the market, I had a client ask if I thought the war would impact the market. We had Matt Genovese with MG Lending at our office meeting today. He said interest rates are staying pretty stable right now. Evidently, he has an app that lets him know the best time to lock a loan based on statistics. They have some interesting programs to help you buy a home before you sell or if you’re self-employed. He said the war hasn’t had much impact yet, and he doesn’t anticipate it changing much. I also asked our good friend. Mr. Google, who said historically interest rates go down at the start of war, then start going up as the war goes on. It will be interesting to see what happens as there has been nothing “historical” about the real estate market in the past 10 years!
 
As for the stats, sales are up! Last month, we had 117 pending sales. In Feb 2025, we only had 98. That’s about a 30% increase. The median sales price however, went down a smidge, so we would consider it a flat market. Last month, it was $2,425k versus $2,655k last year.
 
Interestingly, when we went over the weekly stats for our office, 33% had multiple offers, 60% were cash offers and 36% were at or over asking price. While that seems high, it’s a lot lower than during Covid!
 
Hoping you all have had a chance to enjoy this beautiful weather! Stay safe and healthy!
 
Ruth Ann Bowe