Published October 25, 2026 in Market Update

El Cajon buyers are still moving, even with rates above 7%

By Steven Rotsart

Real estate, El Cajon

Realtor.com reported that mortgage rates climbed above 7% for the first time since January 2025. Most people expected that to slow things down. In El Cajon's ZIP 92020, it did not.

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 95 homes sold in ZIP 92020 in the three months ending August 31, 2026. That is up 25% from the same three months a year earlier. Buyers are still here. They are just being careful.

What the numbers say

The Real Estate Data Aggregator shows the median sale price in ZIP 92020 was $840,000. That is down 1.4% from a year ago. Prices dipped a little. Sales did not. Those two things can be true at the same time.

Homes are selling fast, and many are going above list

The Real Estate Data Aggregator put median days on market at 21 days. That is 21 days shorter than the same period last year. Homes that are priced right are not sitting.

The Real Estate Data Aggregator found that 45.3% of homes in ZIP 92020 sold above list price. That share is up 17.7 points from a year earlier. Nearly half of sellers got more than they asked. That only happens when the price is set to work as marketing, not as a ceiling.

The Real Estate Data Aggregator also showed the average sale-to-list ratio hit 100%. Sellers are getting every dollar they asked for, on average. That is up 1.3 points from a year ago.

More homes are coming to market, and buyers are meeting them

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 107 new listings in ZIP 92020, up 12.6% from a year ago. Buyers absorbed nearly all of them. Supply at 2.6 months is still tight. More choices have not cooled demand.

The Real Estate Data Aggregator also showed 32% of homes went under contract within two weeks of listing. That share is up 1.7 points from a year earlier. A third of sellers are done in two weeks.

Rates are real, but they are not stopping people

Realtor.com reported rates climbed above 7% for the first time since January 2025. CNBC noted that a monthly payment on a median-priced home now takes about 33% of a median family's income. In 2022 it was 26%. That gap is real.

Even so, the El Cajon numbers do not show buyers backing away. Life events, not rates, are what move most people. A job change, a family change, a house that no longer fits. Those do not wait for a perfect rate.

Nationally, Realtor.com reported 20.8% of listings took price cuts in September 2026, the highest share since October 2022. That is the country. El Cajon's sale-to-list ratio is sitting at 100%. The two stories are not the same.

One note: ZIP 92020 covers a wide area. One street can read very differently from the ZIP as a whole. A block with older plumbing, an unpermitted addition or a septic system will price and sell differently than the number above suggests. If you want to know where your home sits, the only way is to look at it specifically.