Everyone's Talking About Fading Bidding Wars. Rochester's Sellers Didn't Get the Memo.

There's a story going around right now about the market cooling off, about buyers finally getting the upper hand, about offers coming in soft. If you've been half-listening to that story, you'd expect sellers around here to be settling for less.

Here's what the data actually says. Over the twelve weeks ending August 30, 2026, sellers across the territory closed at a median 113% of asking price. That's not a typo, and it's not one lucky ZIP skewing things. It's the whole picture, based on 265 closed sales pulled from MLS sold data.

And it wasn't a fluke handful of homes sneaking in over list. About 77% of the sales in that window went above asking. Three out of every four sellers who put a home on the market got more than they asked for it.

Now, dig one level down and the picture gets more interesting, because it's not the same story everywhere.

In Rochester (14613), the median sale price rose about 5% compared with a year earlier. That sounds like straightforward good news for sellers there.

But in that same part of Rochester, the average sale-to-list ratio fell about 5 percentage points compared with a year earlier. Homes are selling for more money, and sellers are giving up more ground to get there. Both things are true at once.

Meanwhile, homes sold dropped about 25% in one part of Rochester, which stands out because every other market we track moved the opposite direction.

Homes sold jumped about 21% in West Henrietta, and rose sharply in other parts of Rochester as well. One market pulled back while its neighbors leaned in.

So what does this mean if you're the one making a decision? If you're thinking about selling, don't let a headline about a "cooling market" talk you out of pricing with confidence. The data here says buyers are still willing to compete, and compete hard, in a lot of these neighborhoods. If you're buying, don't assume every offer needs to blow past asking just because the territory-wide number looks aggressive. Where a home sits still matters more than the average.

What I'll be watching next: whether that pullback in homes sold in one part of Rochester is a blip or the start of something. That's worth more attention than any single headline number.

If you've got a question about what any of this means for your street specifically, I'm always happy to talk it through.

Scott