Published October 4, 2026 in Market Update

WS 2 has more choices now, but sales are still running behind

By Helen Howard

Real estate, WS 2

The biggest shift in Winston-Salem right now is inventory. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 1,049 homes for sale across WS 2 in the three months ending July 31, 2026. That is up 22.5% from the same months of 2025. More choices for buyers means more competition for sellers. Pricing and preparation matter more than they did a year ago.

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 983 homes sold across WS 2 in those same three months. That is down 7.6% from 2025. More listings came to market, but fewer closed. Pending sales fell 3% too, so the slowdown is not just a blip.

This pattern is not only local. Realtor.com reported that active listings topped 1.16 million homes for sale nationally in September 2026. Realtor.com also reported that mortgage rates climbed above 7% for the first time since January 2025. Higher rates slow buyers down, and that shows up in WS 2's numbers.

How each ZIP code is reading right now

Not every neighborhood in Winston-Salem is moving the same way. Here is what the Real Estate Data Aggregator counted, ZIP by ZIP, for the three months ending July 31, 2026.

Where things moved the most

ZIP 27101 saw inventory jump 74.5%, the Real Estate Data Aggregator reported. At the same time, homes sold there fell 20.6%. Months of supply hit 5.1, up 2.8 months from 2025. That is the softest reading in WS 2. Sellers in 27101 are facing real competition right now.

ZIP 27127 told a similar story. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted homes for sale up 46.6% and homes sold down 12.2%. Median days on market stretched to 46, which is 14 days longer than 2025. Only 15.7% of homes there sold above list price, down 9.7 points from a year ago.

ZIP 27106 is a different picture. The Real Estate Data Aggregator showed inventory there actually fell 4%. Homes sold in 27 days at the median, and 46.9% went under contract within two weeks. The median sale price did dip 9.3%, so it is not a perfect story, but demand held up better there than in most other ZIPs.

ZIP 27104 is also moving quickly. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted a median of 34 days on market, the fastest in WS 2. Nearly half of homes there, 49.3%, went under contract within two weeks of listing. Pending sales rose 13.8% from 2025.

What this means for sellers in WS 2

Realtor.com reported that price cuts hit 20.8% of listings nationally in September, the highest since October 2022. In WS 2, the sale-to-list ratio slipped in most ZIPs too. Homes are still selling close to list price, but the cushion is thinner. Pricing right from day one matters more than it did last year.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that U.S. house prices rose 2.6% from July 2025 to July 2026. Some WS 2 ZIPs beat that. ZIP 27105 saw the median price rise 12.8%, and ZIP 27107 rose 8.3%, both per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Two ZIPs, 27106 and 27104, saw prices dip. Every neighborhood reads a little differently.

What this means for buyers in WS 2

More inventory means more time to compare. The Real Estate Data Aggregator showed months of supply rising in six of seven ZIPs. That said, mortgage rates above 7%, as Realtor.com reported, are still a real cost to plan around. More choices do not make the monthly payment smaller.

In ZIP 27104, nearly half of homes still went under contract within two weeks. In ZIP 27106, that share was 46.9%. If you find the right home in those ZIPs, moving carefully but not slowly is still wise.