Seattle housing market: inventory surge and price slide, June 2026

Seattle's housing market is the most prominent example of a West Coast correction in full swing. Prices are down, inventory is up, and mortgage rates just ticked higher again — yet the city's own supply shift is creating a split market where mid-range homes sell fast and condos sit.

The Seattle metro median sale price came in at $822,711 in April 2026, down 3.3% from a year ago — the steepest year-over-year decline among the 50 largest U.S. metros tracked by Redfin. 1

At the city level, the picture is similar: the three-month median through April was $861,118, down 2.9% year-over-year, with the price per square foot falling 3.5% to $571. 2

The S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Index, which measures repeat transactions on the same properties (and runs on a two-month lag), confirmed Seattle's position as the weakest major market through March — a 2.5% annual decline that put it ahead of Denver (-2.0%) and Tampa (-1.9%). The gap between Chicago, the strongest metro at +6.1%, and Seattle is 8.6 percentage points, which S&P analyst Nicholas Godec described as evidence of how localized this cycle has become. 3

Nationally, the U.S. median rose 2.4% year-over-year in April to $396,173 — the biggest gain in 13 months — meaning Seattle is running roughly 5.7 percentage points below the national trend. That contrast reflects a simple structural reality: Seattle's inventory has grown faster than almost anywhere else in the country, which takes pricing power away from sellers.

Active listings in the Seattle metro rose 20.8% year-over-year in April — the single largest inventory increase among the top 50 metros, per Redfin. 1 Nationally, active listings hit their highest level since March 2020, rising 1.3% month-over-month.

At the city level, Madrona Group's May 2026 market report counted 2,809 total active listings (up 31% month-over-month), with 1,782 new listings added in May alone (up 19.2% from the prior month). Overall months of supply sits at 2.6 months — technically still a seller's market, but a significant loosening from a year ago. 4

The inventory story breaks down sharply by price tier:

The $1M–$1.5M band, where nearly 60% of listings go under contract within 30 days, is the tightest segment in the market — a counterintuitive result given that affordability is the headline constraint. What's happening: buyers who can afford this range tend to be equity-rich move-up purchasers less sensitive to rate swings, while entry-level and condo inventory is expanding faster than demand.

Condos are telling the softer half of the story: 5.6 months of supply and an average of 45 days on market, compared to 28 days for single-family resale. The average condo price fell 8.5% from a year ago to $626,361, the sharpest segment-level decline in the data.

Seattle resale market by price tier, May 2026 4

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.53% as of May 28, 2026 — up from 6.51% the prior week and still well below the 6.89% recorded a year ago at this time. The 15-year fixed averaged 5.87%, up from 5.85%. 5

Freddie Mac's commentary noted that pending home sales nationally have increased three months in a row, suggesting "latent demand" that could be released if rates decline. For Seattle, that framing applies with a caveat: declining rates would accelerate the demand side, but the city's inventory pipeline is building simultaneously — so rate relief alone won't mechanically push prices back up without a corresponding slowdown in new supply.

On a $822,711 purchase with 20% down ($658,169 loan at 6.53%), the principal and interest payment runs roughly $4,195/month — about $50 more per month than two weeks ago, and about $225/month less than the same purchase would have cost at last year's 6.89% rate.

The Seattle City Council's Select Committee on the Comprehensive Plan has entered Phase 2 of its zoning overhaul — the "Centers and Corridors" legislation that would rezone neighborhood centers, new and expanded regional and urban centers, and parcels along frequent transit corridors. 6

Phase 1, which implements Washington State's HB 1110 "middle housing" bill, is already in effect. That legislation requires Seattle to allow a broader range of housing types — multiplexes, townhouses, cottage housing — in areas previously zoned single-family. Phase 2 goes further by changing density allowances in specific locations tied to the future land use map adopted in the One Seattle Plan.

Key upcoming dates: a public hearing is scheduled for July 23, with additional committee sessions on July 30 and August 5. The interactive zoning map is available at the city's ArcGIS hub for anyone evaluating how specific parcels may be affected.

On the tax side, Washington's estate tax exemption drops from $3.076M to $3.0M effective July 1, 2026, with rates running 10%–20% of taxable value. 7 For Seattle homeowners who bought years ago at much lower prices, unrealized appreciation plus retirement accounts and other assets can push estates above that threshold without any real-time indication. The tax applies to the estate's fair market value at death, not the original purchase price.

Buyers have more options than at any point since 2020 — 20.8% more active listings year-over-year, a median that's down 3.3%, and rates that are 36 basis points below where they were a year ago. The pressure is concentrated in the $750K–$1.5M range, where multiple-offer dynamics persist. Below $500K and in the condo segment, there's more negotiating room.

Sellers in the sub-$500K and condo market are operating in a slower environment where days on market have stretched by more than a week compared to last year. Competitive pricing is doing more work: Redfin notes that 60.5% of homes nationally sold below their original list price in April, though that share has been declining for six consecutive months — meaning the gap between asking and getting is slowly narrowing. 1

The zoning changes moving through council could have a longer-term effect on land values near transit corridors and newly designated centers — particularly relevant for anyone holding property in those areas or evaluating sites for small multifamily development.