Seattle Home Prices Near 2021 Peak as Rates Hold

Seattle median home prices reached $792,000 in June, matching 93 percent of the May 2021 peak of $852,000 reported by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

The comparison matters now because mortgage rates have settled near 6.3 percent, close to the levels that cooled the 2021 surge, yet buyer traffic on the Multiple Listing Service remains steady at roughly 1,800 new listings viewed daily across King County.

Capitol Hill and Ballard Listings

Capitol Hill condos near 15th Avenue East sold at a median of $685,000 last month, up 11 percent from the same period in 2021, while single-family homes on 24th Avenue Northwest in Ballard cleared at $1.12 million, a figure that sits 3 percent below the 2021 high. The Seattle Housing Authority’s 2025 down-payment assistance program has supported 142 first-time buyers in those two neighborhoods since January, a detail that helps explain why competition stays elevated even as national rates hold firm.

Redfin data shows the share of homes selling above asking price in Seattle rose to 38 percent in June, a level last seen in April 2021. Average days on market fell to 17, matching the pace recorded during the final quarter of the prior boom.

Buyer Planning Steps

Agents at the Seattle King County Association of Realtors advise locking in pre-approvals before August inventory releases, when school-year moves typically add 200 to 250 new listings each week. Households targeting Queen Anne or Fremont should compare current tax assessments against 2021 records to gauge how much equity they will need to bridge any appraisal gap.