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 thinking of buying a home? There are plenty of great housing markets across the state of Washington that you may want to consider buying in, and Seattle and Kirkland are just a couple of them.
Real estate markets across Washington State are highly competitive right now. Common conditions include rapidly rising home prices, short supply, and fierce competition.
Today, we will look at some similarities between the Seattle and Kirkland housing markets as we head further into 2026.
Both the Seattle and Kirkland real estate markets experienced dips in home prices over the past year. According to RedFin, home prices in Kirkland decreased 1.3% YOY, and prices in Seattle decreased 6.5% over the same time period.
In 2026, home prices in Seattle and Kirkland, WA are expected to rise modestly. Seattle’s median prices may grow 2.8–4%, driven by limited inventory, steady buyer demand, and a strong tech job market. Kirkland’s housing market is likely to see 2–4% increases, supported by Eastside amenities, top schools, and proximity to employers.
While growth is slower than past booms, constrained supply and moderate mortgage rates are expected to keep prices stable or slightly appreciating, despite ongoing affordability challenges.
According to the latest data from RedFin, the median home price for Kirkland, Washington sits around $1,337,500 as of January 2026, while the median home price in Seattle is currently around $785,000. Those are hefty home prices and are well above the statewide average of $611,300. This is yet another thing that housing markets in Seattle and Kirkland have in common.
This is an issue that has caused frustration for a lot of home buyers in both the Kirkland and Seattle real estate markets. There is a severe inventory shortage within both of these markets. The short version is that there aren’t nearly enough homes listed for sale to satisfy the current demand from buyers.
A balanced real estate market is one that has around five to six months of supply, according to economists. That means, in theory, that it would take five or six months to sell all homes currently for sale if no new ones came onto the market.
When you sink below this theoretical threshold, you have a market that favor sellers over buyers. And that’s clearly what is happening in both the Seattle and Kirkland real estate markets, as we head further into 2026.
According to recent reports, both of these cities had around a 2.3-month supply of homes for sale in January 2026. By comparison, the average for real estate markets across the country was a 3.5-month supply of homes for sale – and even that is below normal. So both the Kirkland and Seattle housing markets are experiencing chronically low levels of housing supply.
The supply shortage mentioned above has created a real estate market where bidding wars and multiple offers are a common occurrence. Homes that go onto the market in or around Seattle tend to attract multiple offers within days of the initial listing – if not the same day.
It’s also common for houses to sell above the seller’s original asking price, as potential buyers try to outbid one another. This is the current reality for both the Kirkland and Seattle real estate markets. And it’s something that home buyers will probably have to contend with for some time.
Related: Make sense of fluctuating home prices in the Seattle area!
Housing analysts use a particular metric known as the “median days on market” to get a feel for how active or sluggish a particular real estate market is. This is basically the midpoint for how long it takes to sell a home in a particular area.
In January 2026, the median days on market for Kirkland and Seattle were around 48 and 42 days, respectively. This means that homes listed for sale in the area spend a median of 48 and 42 days on the market before going under contract, according to Redfin.
Both markets are considered to be very competitive now, and the low number of days on the market is a testament to that fact.
If you’re in need of a mortgage to buy a home in Kirkland, Seattle, or any other market in the Pacific Northwest, we’d love to help. Sammamish Mortgage is a local, family-owned company based in Bellevue, WA, and we currently offer many mortgage programs in all of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, and California since 1992. Visit our website to get an instant rate quote or to use our online mortgage calculator. Please contact us if you have mortgage-related questions or to get pre-approved for a mortgage.
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