Seattle’s housing market took something of a breather in September, as days on market rose 7.1% from August, and the median price of houses sold slid 1.8% to $638,000, according to RE/MAX’s National Housing Report. 

The number of closed sales slid 3.5% month over month, while active inventory declined 6% to 4,986. Median sales prices slid 1.8% to $638,000, but that’s still up 11.9% from September 2020. 

Nationally, closed transactions were down 7% from August, compared to an average pre-pandemic decline of 15.3% between 2015 and 2019.  

The median sales price clocked in at $329,000, a 1.1% monthly decline, compared to an average drop of 3.4%. Year over year, the median sales price was up 12.5%. Home sellers have enjoyed annual increases in sales prices for 33 consecutive months, RE/MAX said in a press release. 

At the same time, the 4.9% month-over-month decline in active inventory was more than double the average August-September decline of 2.3%. Through September, June and July were the only months in which the national active inventory did not decline on a monthly basis. 

“Affordability remains a challenge in most metros, where tight inventory continues to push prices,” RE/MAX LLC President Nick Bailey said. “Homebuilders are trying to fill the gap — especially with multi-family home construction — but many of them are held up by shortages in labor and materials. That said, the market’s still active — just not quite at the pace we saw earlier this year.”