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Inventory is the story this month. Homes for sale climbed 20% year-over-year in Seattle, 25% in King County, a striking 36% in Snohomish County, and 14% even in slower-moving Pierce County. That’s pushing months of supply to four to five months countywide, technically still a balanced market, but leaning toward buyer’s market territory in a lot of places. At the same time, the story isn’t uniform. Redmond’s median price is up 11%, the strongest gain I’m tracking, even as closed sales there are down 29%. Kent is outperforming almost everywhere. And the East Side’s luxury market is seeing a real shift tied to the state’s new income tax and tech layoffs. Read on for the full breakdown.
Seattle Real Estate Market Update – August 2026
Buyer activity has more room to breathe than it has in years. Homes for sale are up double digits across every county I track: 20% in Seattle, 25% in King County, 36% in Snohomish, and 14% in Pierce. That’s giving buyers meaningfully more choice, and it’s pushing months of supply to four to five months, which is considered a balanced market but is leaning toward buyers depending on the neighborhood and price point.
On the East Side specifically, months of supply is running higher than the county average, closer to five to six months in Bellevue. Bellevue’s median price is down 3.6% from a year ago (a market that used to run up around 17% annually), Kirkland is down about 4%, and Renton is down almost 8%.
Sales Activity Intensity™
King County’s real estate market cooled further heading into August, with NWMLS’s July 2026 report showing active listings up 23.7% year over year, reaching 7,836 homes on the market compared to 6,337 a year ago. That surge in supply outpaced demand: pending sales in King County fell roughly 11% year over year, and Seattle and the Eastside individually saw pending sales drop even further, 16% to 17% year over year. Countywide, closed sales were down 3.2% and pending sales down 7.2% across the broader NWMLS service area. Months of supply has held in the 3.4 to 3.6 range through the summer, up from 2.8 a year ago, still technically seller’s market territory, but the gap between listings and actual buyer activity is widening. Multiple offers still happen, mostly for turnkey homes in prime locations, and closing cost credits, rate buydowns, and repair requests remain common. Sellers who price with precision and adjust expectations accordingly are still closing successfully.
New Listings and Active Inventory
Redmond is the exception to the East Side softening story, and it’s worth understanding why. Median price there is up 11.3%, the strongest gain anywhere I’m tracking, but closed sales are down 29% and pending sales are down 20% over the same period. My read: Redmond has more new construction hitting the market right now, and new construction always sells at a premium (rate buydowns, incentives, and all), which can pull the median up even as the actual pace of resales slows right along with the rest of the East Side.
Days on market climbed across the board this month, though most areas are still in the 12 to 18 day range, which is fast by any historical standard, just slower than the frenzied pace of the past couple of years. Kent stands out as the exception: homes there are selling 7% faster than a year ago, and still hitting full asking price.
Price per square foot is down almost everywhere I track this month, even in cities where the median technically rose, which tells you buyers are getting more space for their dollar. In the ultra-luxury tier (Medina, Clyde Hill, Yarrow Point), sale prices are still climbing on paper, but underneath that, cancelled listings have more than doubled and the percentage sellers are getting versus asking has dropped several points. Homes priced right and shown well are still moving in about three weeks; aspirational pricing above $5 million is where things are getting stuck.
Single-Family Residences
Condos
Two forces are shaping the East Side and luxury market right now that go beyond the usual supply-and-demand story. Washington’s new “millionaire’s tax” has some high earners thinking about leaving before it takes effect, and homes priced at $2 million or more saw a 65% year-over-year jump in the number selling, sellers moving before the change hits. At the same time, tech layoffs are weighing on buyer confidence: Amazon cut over 2,000 Washington positions this spring (more than half in core product and engineering, split between Seattle and Bellevue), Meta cut roughly 20% of its local workforce, and Microsoft just announced almost 500 more cuts in Redmond effective this September. None of this proves causation, but the timing and geography line up. Meanwhile, Kent, a more affordable, less tech-tied market, is moving in the opposite direction entirely, which is a reminder that this isn’t one Seattle market, it’s a lot of smaller ones.
Seattle’s office market is part of the backdrop too: downtown office vacancy is running between 25% and nearly 40%, and the city may have lost roughly $15 billion in office building valuations since 2020. Bellevue’s office vacancy sits around 23%, notably lower, which may matter for which side of the lake recovers first.
Buyers:You have more room to negotiate than you’ve had in years, especially on the East Side, but sellers still won’t take every lowball offer. A client’s 10% under-asking offer in Woodinville this year got no counter at all; it ultimately sold to a buyer closer to 5% under. Come in prepared, and be ready for pushback.
Sellers: Pricing accurately matters more this year than it has in a while. Sellers who price right from day one are still getting close to full asking, sometimes exactly full price. Don’t anchor to Zillow or Redfin automated estimates, they tend to run high in this market. Anchor to what’s actually selling around you, and consider a “secret shopping” walkthrough of five to ten comparable active listings to see exactly what buyers are comparing your home against.
Preparation and clear thinking are what is working right now, for both sides of the table. The buyers and sellers who take the time to understand current conditions and execute well are getting good results. The ones waiting for the market to move in their direction are the ones getting disappointed.
Looking back at spring 2026, Seattle’s housing market continued the transition that began earlier in the year: away from the volatility of prior cycles and into a more normalized, disciplined market environment. Activity did not disappear, but it stayed intentional, shaped by affordability constraints, mortgage rates that held stubbornly above 6.5%, and a steady, then accelerating, climb in inventory that reached its highest levels of the year by June.
As a Seattle real estate broker with HomePro Associates, this shift reflected a continued move toward normalized conditions where pricing, presentation, and location mattered more than urgency alone.
1. Market Activity & Home Sales: Inventory expanded through the entire quarter. King County active listings climbed from roughly 6,163 in April to 6,961 in May and 7,405 by the end of June, keeping year-over-year growth in the 14 to 30 percent range each month as more sellers tested the market. Closed sales told a mixed story: April closings came in modestly below April 2025, May brought a seasonal rebound of roughly 10% from the prior month, and June closings ended up about 2% above June 2025, a gain that lagged well behind the roughly 17% jump in inventory and underscored a market where supply kept outpacing demand.
2. Price Trends: Prices moved in a narrower band than the headlines suggested. King County’s median sale price dipped to $859,000 in April, down about 5% year over year, then recovered to $875,000 in May, essentially flat compared to May 2025, before landing around $889,000 in June, roughly flat to down slightly depending on the measurement window. This was a story of stabilization and repricing across the quarter, not a broad decline.
3. Inventory Levels: Supply built steadily through the quarter. King County active listings climbed from about 6,163 in April to 6,961 in May and 7,405 by the end of June, while new listings kept accumulating statewide even as the pace slowed slightly from May’s peak. That inventory build gave buyers more choices and continued shifting negotiating leverage in their direction, a trend that has carried straight through into summer.
4. Neighborhood Highlights: Ballard and West Seattle remained the most active Seattle neighborhoods for homes under $1.1 million, with turnkey homes moving reliably when priced correctly. Shoreline drew consistent attention from families and commuters, supported by light rail access and larger lots. On the Eastside, Redmond condos stayed active while Bellevue’s single-family market showed more softening than other areas.
5. What It Means Going Forward: Spring 2026 set up a summer of contrasts: more inventory, softer buyer confidence, and rates that stabilized in the mid-6% range but remain stretched for many buyers. The quarter confirmed what we’re still seeing heading into July: preparation, realistic pricing, and strong presentation matter more than timing the market. Sellers who came in with that mindset held the advantage. Those who didn’t are still adjusting.
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The Puget Sound Market Update with Emily Cressey shares market insights and tips for buyers and sellers in the always evolving Seattle – Bellevue – Everett real estate market. Whether you want to buy, sell, or invest, our market insights will help you track market trends and make smart decisions.
