Jeff Tucker:

Hi. I’m Jeff Tucker, principal economist at Windermere Real Estate, and this is a Local Look at the latest data from the Northwest MLS.

We are now in the dog days of summer here in Seattle, and so far, the housing market has not escaped the doldrums of a weak spring selling season.

Across the entire Northwest MLS, there were 2% fewer closed sales in July of 2026 than in July of last year — the same drop we saw in April and May. Pending home sales dropped by 7% from last year, but that was partly explained by an extra Tuesday last July.

On the supply side, new listings actually climbed 10% from last July, and the month ended with nearly 21,000 active listings around the MLS, or 19% more than last July. Unfortunately that marks a modest acceleration from a 17% pace of annual gains in May, which suggests further softening for prices ahead.

Now speaking of prices, the median sale price dipped versus last July by about 2%, to $660,000, after a couple of years at $675,000 around the MLS.

Now I’ll take a closer look at the four counties encompassing the greater Seattle area.

Closed sales declined here by 3% from last July, and that was entirely driven by a 10% drop in King County. Meanwhile, Kitsap looked pretty strong, with 8% sales growth, while Snohomish County ticked up 3% and Pierce County was flat from last year.

Median sale prices were mostly flat or down slightly, around the region — down, by far the most, 6% in Snohomish County again to $757,000, and down just $5,000 in King County from $1 million even in each of the last two Julys.

Looking ahead, pending sales fell all around the region, led by a drop of 11% in King County. That is partly attributable to calendar effects, as last July had one more Tuesday than this one (when many pending sales get logged on Tuesdays), but July’s drop follows on the heels of a 2% drop in June. That does suggest a generally weak sales environment all summer so far.

On the supply side, the four-county greater Seattle area ended the month with 23% more active listings than last July. That’s up from just an 18% growth rate in May. That’s not a huge change, but that re-acceleration of inventory growth seems to stem from buyers not showing up in a big way so far this summer, like we saw in the pending sales data.

All in all, the data through midsummer are reinforcing the message of a swing toward a buyer’s market in Washington, and especially in King County and greater Seattle. Homeowners looking to sell now should be prepared for more competition from other listings, and they should be prepared to face buyers who are expecting a bargain. Conversely, home shoppers who are going out there and buying are likely to see excellent conditions to buy a home here this fall, between a high-water mark for inventory and lower prices than the last couple of years.

All right, that is all I’ve got for this local look at the July 2026 data. Thanks as always for watching!