Mississippi Gulf Coast Market ReportWhat August
actually did.
Rates went almost nowhere. Four straight weeks inside a four basis point band, the flattest stretch in over a year. What did move was time. Homes in Hancock County are now taking 94 to 102 days to sell, up from about 80 in January. That is the number that should be shaping your decisions this fall, not the rate.
Freddie Mac PMMS
Week ending Aug 27, 2026 Flat all month
The flattest month in over a year
Every Thursday Freddie Mac publishes a 30-year average. Here is all four of August, in order. The entire month lived inside four basis points.
Bars are scaled from 6.0 to 7.0 percent to make the movement visible. In practice this is a flat line. For scale: six months ago the same average was 6.01%, and a year ago it was 6.56%.
A quiet month is still information
Freddie Mac’s chief economist described the picture as more homes reaching the market and slower price growth giving buyers better options, which he framed as a more balanced housing market. That is a fair description of what is happening here, with one local caveat: on this coast, balance arrived mostly through time rather than through price.
Buyers who spent August waiting for rates to fall got nothing for the wait.
That is the practical lesson of the month. The rate did not move, but sellers kept conceding, because concessions are driven by how long a house has been sitting rather than by what the Fed does. Anyone who paused their search in August waiting for a better number missed four weeks of a market where sellers were unusually willing to negotiate.
Where the coast stands now
Diamondhead, Bay St. Louis, Waveland
Some segments at 102
Was 41 in January
Aug 27, 2026
Hancock County covers Diamondhead, Bay St. Louis, Waveland, Kiln and Pearlington, so these figures blend a wide range of property types and price points. Harrison County towns including Pass Christian and Gulfport, and St. Tammany Parish including Slidell, are tracked separately in the ledger below. Every source measures something slightly different, which is addressed further down.
Time on market is doing all the work
Set the rate aside for a moment. The number that actually changed this year is how long a house sits.
In January, Hancock County homes were selling in about 80 days. Current readings put that at roughly 94 days, with some segments running to 102. That is a two-week stretch in marketing time over eight months, against a national average closer to 58 days.
Meanwhile sales volume went up, not down. Hancock County recorded around 41 sales in January and is now running 51 to 59 a month. So this is not a market where buyers disappeared. It is a market where there is more to choose from and less urgency to choose quickly.
More inventory, more sales, slower decisions. That is the shape of a balanced market, and it is a good one to buy in.
Town by town
| Market | Where prices sit | Time on market | The read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diamondhead, MS | All-types median in the $265,000 to $282,000 range. Detached single-family typically $300,000 to $500,000. Canal-front with dock well above | ~94 days countywide | Still the elevation story. Homes outside the flood hazard area carry differently, and buyers have worked that out |
| Bay St. Louis, MS | Trailing 12-month median around $345,000, with list medians closer to $383,000 to $399,000 | ~94 to 102 days | The persistent gap between asking and selling is the whole story here. Sellers are still ahead of buyers on price |
| Pass Christian, MS | Median sale $355,000 to $395,000. Average nearer $454,000. Highest median list in Harrison County | ~69 days historically | Still the tightest market on this coast. Limited supply of the addresses people want. Least negotiating room of the four |
| Slidell, LA | $180,000 to $265,000 depending on source and sub-area. Condos near $99,500 | 86 to 91 days | Inventory near or above six months. The most attainable market I work and the strongest buyer leverage of the four |
Compiled from Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey and public market data including Redfin, Zillow, Homes.com and Movoto, current as of September 3, 2026. Ranges rather than single figures, because different sources measure different things. Town-level monthly closings on a coast this size involve small sample counts, so treat single-month movements with caution. For a specific address, comparable sales are the only number that matters.
Why four websites give you four different medians
I get asked this constantly, so it is worth repeating. You can look up the same town on four sites and get four different numbers, and none of them are lying to you.
One reports median sale price for a single month. Another reports a trailing twelve-month median. A third reports the median list price of whatever is currently sitting unsold, which skews high because unsold inventory tends to be the overpriced inventory. A fourth reports an automated valuation index across every home in the area, sold or not.
There is a second problem specific to a coast this size. In a county recording 50-odd sales a month, one unusual waterfront closing can move a town’s median noticeably. That is why this report leans on ranges and on direction of travel rather than treating any single monthly figure as precise.
These numbers describe the weather. They do not describe your street.
Two different sets of instructions
- Stop waiting on the rate. August proved the point. Four weeks, four basis points, nothing gained by waiting. Meanwhile the concessions were there the whole time.
- Shop the 90-day listings. With county averages at 94 days, a home that has been sitting three months has a seller who has adjusted their expectations. That is a different conversation than a fresh listing.
- Ask for the buydown specifically. In a flat-rate environment a seller-funded rate buydown does more for your monthly payment than an equivalent price cut, and sellers are agreeing to them.
- Quote insurance before contingencies expire. Three policies here: homeowners, separate wind and hail, and flood. Two homes at the same price can differ by hundreds a month. Get the real number while you can still walk away.
- Price to the 94-day reality. Marketing times stretched about two weeks this year. A price that would have worked in January is a price that sits now.
- The first three weeks decide everything. Your listing gets its best traffic when it is new. Spending that window at a hopeful price wastes the only free attention you get.
- Volume is up, so buyers exist. The county is closing more sales than it was in January. They are choosing carefully rather than staying home. Give them a reason to choose yours.
- Remove the doubt in advance. That is what my Certified Listing Program is for: a pre-listing inspection so problems surface on your terms, plus a buyer home warranty at closing.
What to watch this fall
Markets have been pricing in one or two Fed rate cuts before year end, but those expectations have been pushed back repeatedly through 2026 and are worth holding loosely. It also helps to know that the Fed’s policy rate and your mortgage rate are related but not the same thing. Mortgage rates track the 10-year Treasury and mortgage-backed securities more closely, which is why they sometimes move independently of Fed decisions.
The more useful local signal is inventory heading into fall. Coastal listing activity typically thins after hurricane season, and if that happens while sales volume holds at current levels, the buyer leverage available right now narrows. If you have been waiting, that is the thing to watch, not the rate headlines.
The fundamentals underneath have not moved. Prices here remain a fraction of comparable coastal markets in Florida and the Carolinas, the region keeps drawing retirees and second home buyers from New Orleans and beyond, and the supply of real waterfront is finite. That is a long game a rate cycle does not alter.
Frequently asked
Did mortgage rates go up or down in August 2026?
Neither, really. August was the flattest month for mortgage rates in over a year. Freddie Mac's 30-year fixed average opened the month at 6.69 percent, eased to 6.67 and then 6.65, and closed at 6.66 percent on August 27. That is a four-week range of four basis points. For context, the same average was 6.01 percent six months earlier and 6.56 percent a year earlier, so rates are meaningfully higher than they were in February but close to where they sat last summer.
Is the Mississippi Gulf Coast a buyer's market in September 2026?
Yes, and more clearly than earlier in the year. Homes in Hancock County are now taking roughly 94 to 102 days to sell, up from about 80 days in January. Median list prices are running near $327,000 to $329,000 against roughly 50 to 60 sales a month. Longer marketing times and steady inventory both favor buyers, who have room to negotiate on price, seller-paid closing costs and rate buydowns.
How long does it take to sell a house on the Mississippi Gulf Coast right now?
Current Hancock County figures put typical time on market at roughly 94 to 102 days, which covers Diamondhead, Bay St. Louis and Waveland. That is up from about 80 days in January 2026 and well above the national average of around 58 days. Pass Christian has historically moved faster than the county as a whole at roughly 69 days. Accurate pricing at launch is the single biggest factor in where a specific home lands in that range.
Are home prices falling on the Mississippi Gulf Coast?
Not broadly. Hancock County prices were up about 1.1 percent year over year in January 2026, and current median list prices near $327,000 to $329,000 are holding well above the roughly $253,000 median sale price recorded in January. What has changed is speed rather than direction. Homes are taking longer to sell, which shows up as more negotiating room rather than as falling prices.
Should I wait for mortgage rates to drop before buying?
That is a personal calculation, but August offered a useful lesson. Rates barely moved for four straight weeks, and buyers who spent the month waiting for a drop got nothing for the wait while sellers were actively conceding on closing costs and rate buydowns. Those concessions exist because the market is slow. If rates fall and buyers return, the concessions tighten first. Buying well now and refinancing later is a real strategy, and so is waiting, but waiting should be a decision rather than a default.
What is the Federal Reserve expected to do in late 2026?
Markets have been pricing in one or two rate cuts before the end of the year, though those expectations have been pushed back repeatedly through 2026 as inflation pressure persisted. It is also worth understanding that the Fed's policy rate and mortgage rates are related but not the same thing. Mortgage rates track the 10-year Treasury and mortgage-backed securities more closely, which is why they can move independently of Fed decisions.
Why do different websites show different median prices for the same town?
Because they are measuring different things. Some report median sale price for a single month, some report a trailing twelve-month median, some report the median list price of active inventory, and some report an automated valuation index across all homes rather than only those that sold. A town can honestly show a $268,000 median on one site and a $399,000 median on another. That is why the reliable answer for a specific property comes from local comparable sales rather than a national aggregator.
Want to know what your block is actually doing?
County medians are context and nothing more. If you want to know what your specific home is worth right now, or what you should offer on one, that takes local comparable sales. I am happy to pull them for you.
Betsy Williams, Broker-Owner, Meridian Realtors · Licensed in Mississippi and Louisiana · 504-458-9498 · betsydwilliams@yahoo.com