Published November 1, 2026 in Market Update

Key West and the Lower Keys still show active demand despite fewer listings

By Jimmy Lane

Real estate, Primary market

The number that matters most right now: pending sales are up while listings are down. That means buyers are still committing, even with fewer homes to choose from. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 231 pending sales across Key West and the Lower Keys in the three months ending August 31, 2026. That is up 10.5% from the same period in 2025. At the same time, homes for sale fell 6.3%, to 460 total. Fewer choices, but buyers are still moving.

Fewer listings are coming to market and fewer are sitting on the shelf. That combination keeps well-priced homes visible to the buyers who are out there. Sellers who price to the current market, not to a number they heard two years ago, are still finding an audience.

How each part of the market read

Key West, Big Pine Key and the Lower Keys up the islands each told a slightly different story in the three months ending August 31, 2026. The Real Estate Data Aggregator breaks them out by ZIP code below.

Key West: steady price, more buyers in the pipeline

The Real Estate Data Aggregator put the median sale price in Key West at $1,000,000 for the three months ending August 31, 2026. That is up 2.6% from the same period in 2025. Homes sold dipped 4.2%, to 114. But pending sales rose 14%, to 122. That gap between closed sales and pending sales is worth watching. It suggests the next period may close stronger.

Homes took a median of 140 days to sell, seven days longer than a year before. That is not fast. But the average sale price as a share of list price rose 1.3 points to 95.6%, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Sellers are giving up a little less ground at the table than they were last year.

Lower Keys: the strongest quick-sale rate in the market

The Lower Keys corridor covered by ZIP 33042 posted the highest median sale price of the three areas: $1,100,000, up 10% from a year before, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Months of supply fell to 5.3, the tightest reading across all three ZIP codes.

Nearly 1 in 5 homes went under contract within two weeks of listing. The Real Estate Data Aggregator put that share at 18.1%, up 6.3 points from 2025. That is the sharpest improvement in quick-sale pace across the whole market. Homes that are priced well and show well are not waiting long.

Big Pine Key: the largest price gain, but patience still required

The Real Estate Data Aggregator recorded a 27.7% increase in median sale price at Big Pine Key, reaching $880,000 in the three months ending August 31, 2026. That is the largest year-over-year price gain of any ZIP code in this market. Inventory fell sharply too: homes for sale dropped 15.3%, to 72.

Homes still took a median of 121 days to sell. That is the shortest of the three areas, but it is also 27 days longer than a year before. No home sold above list price in this period, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Buyers are engaged, but they are not bidding up.

The broader backdrop: rates and national sales

Freddie Mac put the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 7.24% as of October 29, 2026. The 15-year fixed averaged 6.60%. Those rates shape how buyers think about monthly costs, even in a cash-heavy market like Key West and the Florida Keys.

Nationally, the National Association of Realtors reported existing-home sales reached 3.99 million units in September 2026, with prices up 1.3% year over year. Zillow reported that newly pending sales fell 8.5% year over year in September nationally. That national softness makes the 10.5% pending-sales gain logged locally by the Real Estate Data Aggregator more notable, not less.

Affordable housing: a separate layer of the market

Key West News reported on October 29, 2026 that the city monitors more than 525 deed-restricted affordable units created through Key West land development regulations. Two projects add to that count. The Lofts at Bahama Village includes 98 rental units and 28 homeownership units. Poinciana Plaza is expected to bring 54 additional units online in Key West in December 2027.

These deed-restricted units exist in a separate tier from the open market. They do not affect the median sale prices above. But they do reflect a deliberate effort to hold workforce housing in the city, which shapes who can live and work here over the long term.