Hardin County Housing: 17 Pending, 428 Active, Oct 2026

Key Takeaways

• 17 homes went under contract in the last seven days, down from 27 the week before
• 29 new listings came on the market and 29 families moved into their new houses
• Active inventory is 428 listings, down from 435, with 99 homes sold over the last 30 days and an average of 76 days on market
• Average list price is $352,043, average sold price is $314,865, and the median sold price is $292,500
• Under $250,000 is a seller's market at 2.8 months of inventory; $250,000 to $400,000 and $400,000 to $600,000 are buyer's markets, with the $400,000 to $600,000 band at about 4.4 months, up from about 2.8 the week before
• Rachel's takeaway: buyers are making sellers earn the sale

Summary

Rachel Brantingham's weekly housing update started with the number that jumped out at her: only 17 homes went under contract, compared with 27 the week before. She then walked through everything around that number, and said it does not describe a market where buyers have disappeared.

New listings were 29, 29 families moved into new houses, and active inventory dipped from 435 to 428. Rachel's message to sellers is that a pending sale is not a done deal, and her message to everyone is that the market looks different depending on the price range.

Full Article

Rachel said she likes pulling the stats every week because it has made her better at her business, and that anyone thinking about buying or selling is better off knowing the market.

The week in numbers

Looking at the last seven days, the number of homes going pending fell from 27 the week before to 17. "But before that really starts to create panic," Rachel said, she wanted to put it next to the rest of the numbers.

In that week, 29 new homes came onto the market, 17 went under contract, and 29 families moved into their new houses. "That always is a fun number for me, I get excited for those families," she said.

Hardin County currently has 428 active listings, down from 435. Over the trailing 30 days, 99 homes sold, which she rounded to 100. Average days on market is holding steady at 76 days. The average list price is $352,043, the average sold price is $314,865, and the median sold price is $292,500.

Rachel said she does not expect anyone to remember those figures. They are all on the Hardin Local housing market dashboard, which she said she uses with her agents at their weekly team meetings. "It is actually real numbers, real time," she said.

Still listing in October

What surprised her was how many homes are still coming on the market. "It's typically starting to slow down" this time of year, Rachel said, and she thinks a lot of people still want to make a move. One home went on the market on a Monday and was under contract within days. That means there are still opportunities for buyers to get good deals, and for sellers to get top dollar. But, she asked, is that across the board? "No, you need someone who is navigating that carefully with you."

Micro markets

Rachel said she gets messages saying a house on someone's street has been sitting far longer than the averages suggest. Her answer is that inside the county-wide market there are separate price points, each acting like a small market of its own.

• Under $250,000: 2.8 months of inventory. "That is a seller's market." Buyers should expect to pay top dollar and be a little less aggressive on closing costs and repairs.
• $250,000 to $400,000: 5.1 months, a buyer's market. Buyers in this range can ask for their closing costs to be paid.
• $400,000 to $600,000: about 4.4 months, up from about 2.8 the week before. Rachel described it as still a buyer's market.
• $600,000 to $800,000: mathematically about 23 months, which she called a very surprising stat. She thinks buyers in that range are simply not purchasing right now, because not much has moved there, and a buyer could probably be aggressive.
• Over $800,000: about 6 months of inventory, which she called the norm. Luxury sales are a different animal, she said, and do not apply to typical stats.

What it means

"I don't think we're looking at a market where buyers have disappeared," Rachel said. "I think we're looking at a market where buyers are making sellers earn the sale." Even when a home goes pending, she said, it is not a done deal. Her advice to sellers: prep the home properly from the start, inspect it, expect buyers to ask for repairs, be ready for the appraisal, work with an agent who knows the market, and do not list at the top price. She said she suggests listing about 5 percent under top price, because buyers are comparing carefully and are not in a rush.

Her first question to a seller is what is driving the move. "How badly do you want to sell in this market condition?" Then they build the plan from that. Be ready to negotiate and to adjust the price, she said, because "the market is going to determine the value, not the comparables."

Rachel ended by saying the numbers matter even for people who are not buying or selling, because they say something about how healthy the local economy is. "What I'm seeing is still stable. We're still doing really, really well," she said.

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