Published October 16, 2026 in Market Update

Palo Cedro kept moving even as mortgage rates moved past 7.5%

By Katie Luther

Real estate, Palo Cedro

KRCR News reported mortgage rates blew past 7.5% in early October. Nationally, that has slowed things down. In Palo Cedro, it has not stopped them.

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 22 homes sold in ZIP 96073 in the three months ending August 31, 2026. That is up 37.5% from the same three months in 2025. Pending sales tell the same story: up 69.2%, also to 22. Serious buyers are still writing offers.

What the numbers actually say

The median sale price in 96073 came in at $597,000, up 1% year over year, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Prices did not leap, but they held. That 1% gain is modest, and worth saying plainly.

Homes took a median of 19 days to sell. That is 9 days longer than the same period last year, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Not every home went fast. But nearly 4 in 10 went under contract within two weeks of listing: the Real Estate Data Aggregator puts that share at 40.9%.

Sellers got 98.2% of list price on average, up 0.3 points from a year before, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. That says pricing discipline is still rewarded here.

How Palo Cedro reads against the national picture

Nationally, the picture is harder. Realtor.com reported that 20.8% of listings took a price cut in September, the highest share since October 2022. The Federal Housing Finance Agency put U.S. home prices up just 2.6% year over year through July, with a 0.3% monthly gain.

Redfin reported that sellers outnumbered buyers nationally by 62.6% in September. The estimated buyer count of 928,892 was the lowest since 2013. Redfin also put the weekly average mortgage rate at 7.4% as of October 8, with a typical monthly payment of $2,777, the highest on record except the week before.

Palo Cedro is not the national market. Acreage, oaks, a shop out back, a well: those things draw a specific buyer. That buyer is still showing up here, even with rates where they are.

What to watch on roads like Deschutes Road and Old Alturas Road

Supply is tight. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 21 homes for sale in 96073 during those three months, up 10.5% from a year before. At the current pace, that is 2.9 months of supply, down 0.7 months year over year. More homes came to market: 25 new listings, up 31.6%.

For sellers: buyers are active, supply is lean, and homes priced right are still closing near full price. For buyers: well-priced properties on Deschutes Road or Old Alturas Road can still draw competition. One home in the area went under contract in 6 days, per Good Earth data from October 14, 2026.

These are ZIP code numbers. One road, one parcel size, one well situation can read very differently from the 96073 average. If you want to know what your specific property looks like right now, that is a different conversation.