A September 2026 roundup from Top Ten Real Estate Deals highlights shifting forces in the U.S. housing market, from a Federal Reserve rate hike and baby boomers’ outsized role in transactions to Florida’s sales gains. The report also tracks changing buyer preferences, luxury properties, proposed mortgage portability and the country’s wealthiest suburbs.
Key takeaways
The roundup spans national housing trends, regional moves and high-end real estate. Its central themes include:
- The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate, while boomers accounted for large shares of buyers and sellers.
- Florida recorded repeated year-over-year sales growth and a jump in million-dollar transactions.
- A proposed bill would make some mortgages portable, but it has not become law.
Rates and buyers reshape the market
The report says the Fed lifted its benchmark interest-rate range by a quarter point to 3.75%–4.00%, its first increase since 2023, citing renewed inflation pressure. It also reported that policymakers signaled another possible increase before year-end, despite President Donald Trump’s calls for lower rates.
Baby boomers, defined in the roundup as people ages 61 to 79, represented 42% of home buyers and 55% of sellers. Many have substantial equity, the report notes, which can make cash purchases more feasible. Meanwhile, foreign buyers purchased 67,100 existing U.S. homes worth a combined $45.3 billion from April 2025 through March 2026. The reported median price was $465,000, down 19.1%; the transaction count was the second-lowest since tracking began in 2009.
Florida leads sales and retirement rankings
Florida posted 11 consecutive months of year-over-year home-sale increases through July, according to the roundup. Single-family sales rose more than 5%, while condominium sales climbed 11%, even without improved mortgage rates. Million-dollar sales also advanced: transactions for condos and townhomes in that price bracket increased more than 31% year over year, and single-family sales above $1 million rose more than 27%.
Florida also claimed eight of the top 10 spots in Niche.com’s annual retirement-place ranking. Rio, near Stuart, was listed first, followed by Highland Beach. Separately, South Carolina was named the most desired state for prospective movers for the seventh straight year, with Idaho and Florida next.
Luxury towers and mortgage portability
Miami’s Cipriani Residences was nearing completion, with its two-unit 1931 Collection penthouse at the top of a 950-foot Brickell tower. The larger residence was listed for $33 million and its companion for $19.8 million, putting their combined asking price near $53 million. The report described the tower as the tallest residential building south of Manhattan.
New Jersey Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. introduced the MOVE Act, a proposal that would direct Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase portable mortgages. If adopted, the measure could let homeowners transfer an existing loan’s rate, term and balance to another property; the proposal remains legislation, not an available mortgage option.
America’s highest-income suburbs
Based on 2024 American Community Survey data, Scarsdale, New York, topped the roundup’s list of wealthiest U.S. suburbs, with average household income of $612,591. West University Place, Texas, ranked second at $439,594. Eight of the 10 suburbs were located in California, New York or Texas.