One of the questions I get all the time is:
“Should I sell my house now, or should I wait?”
After 40 years in real estate and thousands of transactions, I’ve learned that the answer usually has very little to do with trying to predict the real estate market.
It has much more to do with your situation.
And if you’re waiting for someone to tell you exactly when the market will be at its absolute peak, I’ve got some bad news:
Nobody knows.
Not me. Not an economist. Not a realtor. Not the guy on CNBC. And definitely not the person on Facebook who is certain that home prices are about to explode—or crash.
What we can do is look at the facts and make a decision based on what we actually know.
So, what’s happening in Central Ohio right now?
The Central Ohio market in 2026 is interesting.
According to the latest numbers from Columbus REALTORS®, August closed sales were down 2.5% from a year ago, but inventory was up 6.8%. There were 6,124 homes on the market, compared with 5,736 a year earlier.
The median sales price was $345,500, up 2.2% from August 2025.
Through the first eight months of the year, Central Ohio closed sales were actually up 2.3%, while the year-to-date median sales price was up 3.7%.
In other words:
The market isn’t booming. It isn’t crashing. It’s adjusting.
And that’s important.
We’re seeing more choices for buyers, but we’re still nowhere near an oversupplied market. Central Ohio had about 2.4 months of inventory in August.
See the latest Central Ohio housing statistics from Columbus REALTORS®.
At the same time, mortgage rates remain a factor. Freddie Mac reported the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 6.95% on September 17, 2026.
See current mortgage-rate data from Freddie Mac.
So, should you sell?
Maybe.
But here’s what I would ask you first.
Why do you want to sell?
This is the question that gets overlooked.
If you’re selling because your family has outgrown the house, because you’re downsizing, because you’re moving for a job, because you’re retiring, because you want to be closer to your kids—or because you’re simply ready for something different…
Waiting six months for a theoretical better market may not make much difference.
You aren’t selling a house.
You’re selling a house so you can do something else with the money.
That’s an important distinction.
What if prices go up 5%?
Let’s say your house is worth $500,000 today.
If you wait and somehow prices increase 5%, your house could be worth $525,000.
Sounds great.
But what happens to the house you’re planning to buy?
If the entire market rises, that house probably went up too.
That’s why I tell sellers:
Don’t obsess over maximizing the sale price in isolation. It is important to look at the entire transaction.
Sometimes selling for $500,000 and buying your next house for $600,000 is financially better than selling for $525,000 and buying the next house for $650,000.
The numbers matter.
“But I’m waiting for interest rates to come down.”
I understand the thinking.
Lower mortgage rates could bring more buyers into the market.
But here’s the problem:
You don’t know when rates will fall.
And you don’t know what will happen to inventory or prices when they do.
If rates drop significantly, more buyers may suddenly enter the market. That could be good news for sellers—but it could also mean more competition for the house you want to buy.
Trying to perfectly time both the housing market and the mortgage market is a pretty difficult game.
I’d rather make a good decision based on what I know than wait for a perfect decision based on what I hope will happen.
There is one situation where I would seriously consider waiting
If you don’t really need to sell.
Maybe you’re thinking:
“I could sell, but I don’t really have anywhere I need to go.”
Then I would slow down.
Selling a house isn’t free.
There are commissions, preparation costs, moving expenses, repairs, possible capital-gains considerations, and the cost of whatever you’re buying next.
If you’re perfectly happy where you are and you’re simply thinking about selling because somebody told you, “this is a good market,” I’d ask:
What’s the reason?
Don’t sell just because you think you are supposed to.
What if your house needs work?
This is another big one.
A lot of sellers tell me:
“We need to do a bunch of work before we sell.”
Maybe.
Maybe not.
I’ve seen homeowners spend $50,000 getting a house ready to sell and then discover that they didn’t get anywhere near $50,000 back.
I’ve also seen homeowners do almost nothing and leave money on the table because buyers saw problems that could have been fixed relatively inexpensively.
The answer depends on the house, the neighborhood, the competition and the likely buyer.
Don’t remodel for the sake of remodeling.
Remodel because the numbers make sense.
That’s where experience matters.
The biggest mistake sellers make
They confuse price with value.
A homeowner might look at Zillow, Redfin or three houses down the street and decide:
“My house is worth $600,000.”
Maybe it is.
Maybe it isn’t.
The market doesn’t care what you paid for it.
It doesn’t care how much you love your kitchen.
It doesn’t care that your neighbor sold for $625,000.
It cares about what buyers are willing to pay for your specific house, in your specific neighborhood, right now.
That’s why pricing correctly from the beginning is so important.
So… should you sell now?
Here’s my simple answer:
If you have a good reason to sell, I wouldn’t wait for a crystal ball.
Central Ohio continues to have solid demand. Prices are still increasing, although more moderately than they did during the pandemic-era boom. Inventory has increased, giving buyers more choices. And mortgage rates remain high enough to affect affordability.
That’s not a market I would describe as either “red hot” or “terrible.”
It’s a market where pricing, preparation and strategy matter.
And that’s actually pretty normal.
After 40 years in this business, I’ve learned something else:
The best time to sell is usually when selling makes sense for you—not when somebody predicts the market will be at its peak.
If you’re thinking about selling, don’t start by asking:
“Is now the perfect time?”
Start by asking:
“What am I trying to accomplish?”
Then we can work backward from there.
That’s how I would approach it.
And that’s how I approach real estate with my own money.
If you would like to discuss your specific situation, you can schedule a free consultation here.
Kyle Alfriend
The Alfriend Group / ReMax Achievers
(614) 395-1776
Kyle@AlfriendGroup.com
www.AlfriendGroup.com