No Obligation and transparency 24/7. Instantly compare live rates and costs from our network of lenders across the country. Real-time accurate rates and closing costs for a variety of loan programs custom to your specific situation.
Are you planning to buy a home in Seattle? If so, you’ll want to know the temperature of the market first. According to certain indicators, it seems that Seattle’s housing market will continue to be somewhat healthy in 2026. This article will explain why.
Seattle, Washington has been a seller’s real estate market for the last few years. This is the result of strong demand from buyers and a limited inventory of homes for sale.
It should come as no surprise to anyone who lives in Seattle that the local real estate market currently favors sellers or buyers. This has been the number-one real estate news story of the last couple of years, generating a slew of headlines and media coverage.
Related: Tips for Seattle home buyers
But what about 2026? Will Seattle continue to be a seller’s market this year? It’s tough to say, though things have certainly slowed since May this year.
Let’s start with the supply situation. According to housing experts and economists, a balanced real estate market has somewhere around five months’ worth of supply. When inventory levels drop far below this level, the market tends to favor sellers over buyers.
As of early 2026, Seattle had a roughly 3.5-month supply of homes for sale. So, the market is still very constrained, from an inventory perspective. This is true for many cities across the country. In fact, the national average was around 4.2-months’ worth of supply in January. And even that is below what’s considered to be a balanced market.
But few cities can rival Seattle in this department. The city currently has one of the lowest levels of housing supply of any city in the country. That’s one of the reasons why Seattle could potentially remain a seller’s market in 2026. There just aren’t enough homes listed for sale to satisfy the current level of demand.
And speaking of demand, homes across the Seattle metro area are selling relatively quickly and sometimes above the original asking price.
Real estate analysts use the “median days on market” measurement to get a sense of how quickly homes are selling in a particular area. Listings go pending in 42 days on average, according to RedFin. This is yet another indicator that Seattle is still a seller’s market.
Demand for homes remains strong across the metro area, with a boost from tech workers.
As of early 2026, the average price for a home in Seattle is $832,857. That’s a 2.1% decrease from the same time last year.
That’s one of the reasons why Seattle got higher loan limits for 2026. Here’s the bottom line to all of this. Due to the high level of demand and severely low inventory, Seattle will likely remain a seller’s market through much or all of 2026.
Not long ago, we created a survival guide for home buyers who were planning to enter the Seattle real estate market. That guide is still very relevant to current market conditions, so it is well worth a read.
Whether it’s a buyer’s or seller’s market, teaming up with the experts in real estate and mortgages can help you get a great deal and secure the right mortgage for you in Seattle, WA. At Sammamish Mortgage, we offer many mortgage programs for borrowers across the Pacific Northwest, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Colorado since 1992. We’d love to help. Visit our website to get an instant rate quote or get in touch with Sammamish Mortgage today to get started.
Whether you’re buying a home or ready to refinance, our professionals can help.
{hours_open} - {hours_closed} Pacific
No Obligation and transparency 24/7. Instantly compare live rates and costs from our network of lenders across the country. Real-time accurate rates and closing costs for a variety of loan programs custom to your specific situation.
Adjust the parameters based on what you want to track