Question of the Week: Should I Sell My Home Now, or Wait?

Every week I answer a real question from a buyer or seller here in the Hill Country, and this one has been showing up a lot lately: "Should I sell my home now, or wait for a better market?" It is a fair question, and the honest answer is not the same for everyone. What I can do is lay out what the numbers actually say right now, so you can decide with facts instead of guesswork.

What Does the Market Look Like Right Now?

Start with the big picture. Canyon Lake's 78133 ZIP code is running about 14.6 months of housing supply, roughly three times the national average, with more than 1,000 active listings this year. That is why Canyon Lake ranked No. 7 on a 2026 national list of America's strongest buyer's markets. New Braunfels has been sitting near 6.6 to 7.3 months of supply, and Wimberley's most recent published market update showed about 7.9 months. Across Texas, the Texas Real Estate Research Center's September 2026 report describes inventory expanding and sales holding up, with Austin sales up 11.7% year over year in July. In plain terms: buyers have choices right now, and that changes how a home needs to be priced and presented.

Are Prices Falling, or Holding Steady?

Here is the part that surprises a lot of sellers. Even with all that inventory, prices are not collapsing. In Canyon Lake, the median sold price was about $375,000 over the three months ending August 2026, up 3.4% from a year earlier. New Braunfels showed a median around $347,000 over the same stretch, up 3.7% year over year. Statewide, Texas prices were only about 0.2% below year-ago levels in July, according to the Texas Real Estate Research Center. So this is not a falling market. It is a slower, pickier market where the right price and the right presentation still sell, and overpriced homes sit. That distinction matters, because it changes the decision from "should I sell at all" to "can I sell well."

What Are Mortgage Rates Doing to Buyer Demand?

Rates are the other side of this coin, and they deserve a straight answer. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 7.03% in the week ending September 24, 2026, according to Freddie Mac, up from 6.30% a year earlier. That climb raises the monthly payment on every dollar borrowed, which shrinks the pool of buyers who can qualify at your price point. In practice, that means sellers in this market often need to think about more than the list price: buyer concessions like closing cost assistance or a temporary rate buydown can be the difference between a signed contract and another month of showings. A home priced and packaged for today's rate environment will always draw more traffic than one priced for last year's.

How Long Will It Take to Sell?

Set your expectations with real numbers. Canyon Lake homes have been running a median of about 102 days on market over the three months ending August 2026, and New Braunfels has been closer to 69 days. In the broader Austin area, homes are selling at roughly 97% to 98% of asking price, meaning most buyers are negotiating a little off the top. None of that means your home cannot sell quickly. The homes that move fast in this market are the ones priced within the comps from day one, in good condition, and photographed and marketed like a home a buyer can picture themselves in. The homes that sit are usually the ones waiting for the market to come to them.

What Should You Think About Before You Decide?

Here is where the honest answer lives. Waiting only makes sense if you are waiting for something specific: a life event, a better equity position, a rate environment that brings more buyers back. If a rate drop comes, it will likely bring more buyers, but it will also bring more sellers and more competition, so the advantage may not be as big as it sounds. What rarely works is waiting for a "perfect" market that never arrives. Instead, ask yourself what your timeline actually needs. If you are relocating, retiring, downsizing, or moving for family, the market you have is the market you work with, and the goal is to position your home to sell well in it. If you have flexibility, the data can help you time the listing for your neighborhood's strongest months. Either way, the decision should start with an honest look at your own numbers, not a guess about next year.

“Waiting for the perfect market usually means waiting for a market that never shows up. The better question is whether your home is priced and presented for the market that exists today.”

Why Work With an Agent Who Knows This Market?

This is where experience pays for itself. With nearly four decades in Central Texas real estate and a background in mortgage banking, I can show you what your home should be priced at, what a buyer's financing will actually support in a 7% rate world, and what to fix before a single showing. I have listed and sold homes from Canyon Lake to Wimberley to New Braunfels, and I will tell you plainly whether selling now makes sense for your situation or whether waiting is the smarter play. Sometimes the honest answer is that waiting is better. You deserve that honesty before you make one of the biggest financial decisions of your life.

Have a real estate question of your own? Ask Steve anytime at the Ask Steve page below, and I will do my best to answer it in a future Question of the Week. No question is too small, and Steve is available 24/7 for the questions that cannot wait.