Published October 11, 2026 in Market Update

Orange Beach is tightening while Gulf Shores is taking longer

By Chris McClure

Real estate, Primary market

Not one beach market. Two separate sets of outcomes, moving in opposite directions right now.

Are you making decisions based on what you heard about the coast in general, or what is actually happening on your street? The numbers for the three months ending August 31, 2026 tell a story that splits cleanly at the Pass.

The core split

This is not a personality test. It is a supply problem, and supply tells you who holds the leverage.

Orange Beach inventory dropped 17.6% from a year ago, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Fewer choices for buyers means less room to negotiate on price. That is why the median climbed 6.5% to $735,000.

Gulf Shores is a different situation. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 302 homes sold in ZIP 36542, down 9% from a year ago. The median fell to $500,500, also down 9%. Homes are sitting 13 days longer than they did last year. At 7.5 months of supply, sellers are competing with each other.

How these compare with the country

The National Association of Realtors put U.S. months of supply at 4.9, which it called the highest level in over ten years. Both beach markets sit above that. Gulf Shores is well above it. That context matters when you are setting a price or writing an offer.

Pending sales tell you where things are headed

Pending sales show demand before it closes. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 356 pending sales in Orange Beach, up 22.3% from a year ago. That is a real shift in buyer activity, and it is tightening an already thin supply.

Gulf Shores pending sales were nearly flat, up just 0.8% to 374, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. More homes, slower demand, longer days on market. That is the risk profile a seller or buyer needs to price around.

What sellers are getting at the closing table

In Orange Beach, homes sold for an average of 96.2% of list price, up 0.7 points from a year ago, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Sellers gave up a little less than they did last year.

In Gulf Shores, that figure slipped to 96.5%, down 0.6 points, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. The gap is small, but the direction is different. One market is tightening. The other is softening.

The rate backdrop

Freddie Mac put the 30-year fixed rate at 7.40% as of October 8, 2026. The 15-year averaged 6.73%. Rates above 7% slow buyers everywhere, and they slow them more in markets where supply is already elevated. Gulf Shores has both working against it right now.

A note on the rest of the market

Orange Beach and Gulf Shores get the headline, but this coast covers more ground. Foley, Daphne, Fairhope and the areas inland each carry their own numbers, and some of them look quite different.

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 2.7 months of supply in ZIP 36527, which covers part of Daphne. That is well below the national figure. The median there rose 9.8% to $405,874, and homes sold 5 days faster than a year ago.

South Foley, ZIP 36535, showed 328 homes sold, up 11.9%, with a median of $324,551. Supply held at 3.3 months. New listings fell 19.2%. That is a tighter market than most people expect from Foley.

The Lillian area, ZIP 36549, is worth watching. Supply rose to 5.8 months, up 2.6 months from a year ago. The median fell 5.1% to $249,000. Sales dropped 36.2%. Homes are sitting 34 days longer. That is a meaningful shift in a small market, and buyers there have more room to negotiate than they did a year ago.

What this means if you own or plan to buy

If you own in Orange Beach, supply is falling and pending sales are rising. That changes what a well-priced home can get. If you price it like Gulf Shores, you leave money on the table.

If you own in Gulf Shores, 103 days on market is the median outcome right now, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Not every home sits that long. But price it wrong and it will. The buyers who are active have options, and they know it.

If you are buying anywhere on the coast, the rate environment from Freddie Mac means your financing cost is a real number in your offer math. A rate buydown or closing cost help from a seller changes the effective price more than most buyers calculate up front.