Following years of “rapid growth,” home prices in northwestern Washington are “showing signs of moderation,” the Northwest Multiple Listing Service said in its latest Market Snapshot.
In September, the median home price across the NWMLS region declined 0.7% year over year to $630,700, down from $635,000 a year prior. The median price was also down 3% month over month from $650,000 in August.
Meanwhile, mortgage rates eased and active listings skyrocketed 27.3%, making homes both more affordable and more available to prospective buyers.
Even larger inventory gains were seen in several of the counties in the Puget Sound area, including Thurston (up 48.1%), Island (up 45.7%) and Snohomish (up 41.7%).
“House prices in the NWMLS service area have generally been sluggish in response to high interest rates,” said Steven Bourassa, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington. “Initially, high interest rates discouraged both sellers and buyers, but in recent months, sellers have been listing properties at a faster rate than buyers have been purchasing them. To some extent, these changes may reflect typical seasonal fluctuations, but at some point the laws of supply and demand may prevail and prices may lose some of their stickiness.”
Closed home sales increased 5.9% year over year in September, although they decreased 2.7% month over month. Pending sales — a good indicator of future home sales — rose 2.4% year over year.
Given the rate of sales, the NWMLS region had 3.25 months of inventory — up over 20% from September 2024 — although the housing supply was lower in Kitsap (2.23 months), Snohomish (2.43 months), Thurston (2.67 months), Pierce 2.84 months), Cowlitz (2.88 months) and King (3.15 months) counties.
“Seattle’s housing market is continuing to rebalance following large swings in prices and demand in the last few years,” said Selma Hepp, chief economist for Cotality. “Improved affordability is certainly helping attract homebuyers — especially for mid-range and tech-enhanced homes that are now facing less competition than in years prior.”
Hepp added that home prices will likely “move sideways” for the rest of the year and pick up again early next.