Seattle Home Prices Up 8.4% Year-Over-Year, But Q2 Growth Is Slowing

Seattle-area home prices rose 8.4 percent in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year, according to data compiled by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service — but that headline number conceals a more complicated story unfolding block by block across the city. Quarter-over-quarter, Q2 growth clocked in at just 1.1 percent, a marked deceleration from the 3.7 percent recorded between Q4 2025 and Q1 2026.

The timing matters. Homeowners and buyers are heading into the long Independence Day weekend — with triple-digit heat having already forced festival cancellations across much of the country — and they will return next week to a market that looks meaningfully different than it did twelve months ago. Mortgage rates have been hovering near 6.8 percent for 30-year fixed loans since late May, squeezing purchasing power at the exact moment that annual appreciation figures are still printing well above the historical norm of roughly 4 percent.

In practical terms, the median detached home in Seattle proper hit $975,000 in June 2026, up from $900,000 in June 2025. Capitol Hill and the Central District are tracking above the city median, with several three-bedroom bungalows on 23rd Avenue selling above $1.1 million in May and June. Meanwhile Beacon Hill, historically one of the more accessible corridors for first-time buyers, has seen its median jump to $840,000 — up roughly $90,000 from a year prior, a gain that is outpacing income growth in the neighborhood by a wide margin according to King County Assessor records filed through May 31.

The Neighborhoods Driving the Numbers

Ballard remains one of the tightest sub-markets in the city. Inventory on the main residential grid between 15th Avenue NW and 28th Avenue NW sat at just 1.3 months of supply at the end of June, according to NWMLS figures — anything below two months is conventionally considered a strong sellers' market. Fremont and Phinney Ridge are similarly constrained, with agents from firms including Windermere Real Estate and Coldwell Banker Bain both reporting that well-priced listings in those neighborhoods are still attracting multiple offers, though the frenzy of 2021 and early 2022 has not returned.

The Eastside tells a slightly different story. Bellevue's median sale price for single-family homes reached $1.62 million in Q2, a 6.9 percent annual gain — solid, but its slowest pace of year-over-year growth since 2019. Kirkland and Redmond are seeing more price reductions on listings that linger past three weeks, a dynamic that was essentially absent from those markets in 2024 and early 2025. The King County Assessor's office noted in its June market summary that the ratio of sale price to list price across the county dipped to 101.2 percent in Q2, down from 104.7 percent in Q2 2025.

What Buyers and Sellers Should Watch

The third quarter will be the real test. Seattle typically sees a seasonal inventory bump in July and August as sellers who listed in spring make decisions about whether to relist, reduce, or wait. If that inventory bump arrives while rates hold above 6.5 percent, the quarter-over-quarter deceleration is likely to continue. The Washington State Department of Commerce has flagged a pipeline of roughly 4,200 permitted multi-family units across Seattle and close-in suburbs that are expected to come online before December 2026 — supply that could put additional pressure on the condo segment specifically.

For buyers who have been waiting on the sidelines, the data does not suggest a dramatic price correction is imminent. But the urgency calculus has shifted. Bidding wars are not gone, but they are concentrated in specific price bands — largely under $900,000 in Seattle proper — and in specific neighborhoods. Anything priced above $1.3 million in areas like Laurelhurst or Magnolia is sitting longer than sellers anticipated six months ago. Patience, at this particular moment in the Seattle market, has started paying dividends again.