July 2026 Market Update

As Summer is starting to heat up, the real estate market seems to be cooling a bit. Median price was down 12%, YoY and MoM, at $837,500. Inventory was fairly stable the past couple of months but up from a year ago. Closed sales were slightly down from the previous month and more so from a year ago. Usually there is a lag of a month or so (some or most of these numbers represent properties that went under contract from the prior month) but this year seems a little different from past years. Just a little, but enough.

It is not uncommon for Median price to peak in late spring and then level off, or drop, as we head into Summer. But this year seems the drop happened a little sooner. Homes are still selling and for higher price points, but there did seem to be differences since the start of the year (more so for West Seattle). We started 2026 with relatively flat pricing, and then a big spike in April and May numbers, only for them to retreat drastically in June. There have been the obvious inflation, higher interest rates and local layoffs influencing the market. We also thought the World Cup coming to Seattle in June and July might effect buying and selling strategies but those are a little hard to quantify. We recommended to our clients to list earlier in Spring vs. June, as there were expectations of hundreds of thousands of tourists flocking to our area. We’ll watch July and August numbers to see if numbers rebound or if the market will just wait until the early fall market (September and early October are usually the second busiest market times of the year).

Inventory numbers are up to about 215 homes on the market every week (there were 164 in June 2025, 149 in June of 2024, and 119 in June of 2023). Only 166 of the 215 last month were previously owned (vs. NC, a new construction project) so the increase in homes can be attributed to the growing number of available NC homes.

Closed sales were down MoM and YoY at 115 homes. 44 of those homes received over asking price, 40 sold for under and 31 right at list. Buyer’s shopping for traditional stand alone homes in the 1-1.25M range were more likely to see competitive offer situations (escalators). Of the 45 homes selling over 1M, 19 of those went over list.

Here is an example of a home going 21% over list. Originally listed for $1,050,000, it received 8 offers and sold for $1,270,000.

Here are 2 homes that were represented by West Seattle Realty that closed last month. 4515 SW Genesee closed for 15% over list and 4036 44th closed for 111% over list.

This market segment is still very active. 81 homes, priced 1-1.25M have sold over the past 6 months (including 18 last month). 110 homes, 1.25M and over, have closed in that same time span (27 last month). There is a premium for traditional homes with yards or views (or both).

West Seattle Pending numbers were down last month. Pending sales typically level off in Summer but maybe this was a month early. We’ll watch this number over the summer.

Seattle metro Median Price was down last month to 985k. Sales were slightly down MoM but over YoY. Pending numbers were stable (Cap Hill/Central Seattle had a surprisingly strong month). With the Seattle World Cup hosting over, but summer vacations/events starting, we’ll watch how the next couple of months go. Historically, the market levels off until September when it gets a second wind.

Interest rates remain elevated from the beginning of the year (just below 6%) but a little lower the same from a year ago (6.67% in June of 2025).