Seattle Market Report
Real data for buyers and sellers in Seattle. Price trends, inventory levels, days on market, list-to-sale ratios, and permit activity pulled from official sources so you know exactly what you are walking into before making a move.
Seattle analytics, split by role
Buyer data covers search strength and offer leverage. Seller data covers pricing, timing, and demand. Shared analytics are the bigger population and supply signals both sides need before trusting any single number.
Current data at a glance
Sources: Northwest Multiple Listing Service monthly snapshots, Washington Center for Real Estate Research, U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, King County Assessor records
Seattle Buyer Analytics
What buyers need to know before making an offer. Price movement, inventory, competition pace, and offer leverage across five time windows.
Seattle buyers in the current 30-day window are competing in one of the most supply-constrained markets in the Pacific Northwest. Median sale prices are tracking near $895,000 with approximately 1,445 active listings across the Seattle market area NWMLS. That translates to only 0.9 months of supply, firmly in extreme seller-market territory. Days on market averaging 12 reflect a market where well-priced homes are generating multiple offers within days of listing. The list-to-sale ratio near 101.2 percent means buyers are frequently bidding above asking price to secure homes, particularly in Capitol Hill, Fremont, Ballard, and the Central District. Buyers without pre-approval and offer-ready status are effectively unable to compete on the most desirable inventory.
Over six months, Seattle prices climbed from approximately $848,000 in January to $895,000 in March, an appreciation of roughly 5.5 percent in the first quarter of 2025 alone WCRER. Inventory compressed from 1,845 in November to 1,391 in July, following the standard seasonal tightening that makes Seattle summers intensely competitive. Seattle's tech employment base at Amazon, Microsoft, and the broader tech corridor has supported income growth that consistently outpaces rate sensitivity, keeping buyer demand elevated even when mortgage costs are high.
The full one-year Seattle view shows a market that never meaningfully slowed despite elevated mortgage rates. Prices held above $815,000 at every point in the trailing 12 months, with the winter floor arriving in October at approximately $848,000 before accelerating sharply into 2025 NWMLS. The annual pattern shows that Seattle's tech employment cycle creates a March through July demand surge as RSU vesting, bonus timing, and relocation activity peak. Buyers who can enter in September or October gain marginally better conditions before the spring surge.
Five-year Seattle appreciation is one of the defining data points of Pacific Northwest housing. Prices rose from approximately $568,000 in early 2020 to a peak near $892,000 in mid-2022, a gain of nearly 57 percent WCRER. The post-peak correction was more pronounced in Seattle than in Pierce County, pulling prices back to around $815,000 by late 2023. The re-acceleration from late 2024 through 2025 has pushed prices toward new highs. The five-year arc confirms that Seattle demand is anchored by a tech-driven income base that has proven more durable than rate-sensitive buyer pools elsewhere.
Over ten years, Seattle prices grew from roughly $400,000 in 2015 to nearly $900,000 in 2025, a gain that transformed the affordability picture for the entire region. That appreciation path is one of the steepest sustained runs of any major US city over the same period Census ACS, NWMLS, King County Assessor. The growth has pushed first-time buyers into adjacent markets while creating enormous equity for those who entered in the 2015 to 2019 window. For Seattle buyers today, the ten-year perspective argues for viewing the purchase as a long-term wealth-building decision rather than a near-term bargain.
Seattle Seller Analytics
What sellers need before going live. Competing inventory, absorption pace, pricing pressure, and timing signals to sharpen the launch and protect the outcome.
Seattle sellers in the current window are operating from a position of considerable leverage. Months of supply near 0.9 means well-presented homes are receiving multiple offers within the first week NWMLS. List-to-sale ratios averaging 101.2 percent means the average seller is closing above asking price. Sellers who price at or slightly below market value to stimulate competition are capturing the strongest final prices, while those who price aggressively upfront are seeing longer market times and eventual reductions.
The six-month Seattle seller picture shows a market that strengthened steadily from fall 2024 through spring 2025. Days on market ranged from just 9 days in peak summer to 16 in late fall NWMLS, with summer consistently the tightest window. Sellers who launched between April and July captured the highest sale prices and the most competitive bidding environments. The six-month data confirms that Seattle is one of the few markets where sellers can confidently use a pricing strategy designed to generate competing offers rather than fielding one offer at a time.
The one-year Seattle seller view shows that spring launches outperform all other windows by a wide margin. Spring 2025 median closings are running approximately 8 to 10 percent above the October 2024 floor WCRER, a spread that is significantly larger than what Pierce County and South Sound markets show. Seattle sellers who can align their launch with March through May are capturing both maximum buyer depth and the highest list-to-sale ratios of the year.
Five-year Seattle sellers who purchased in 2019 to 2021 are sitting on some of the most significant equity gains in the Pacific Northwest. Net gains for sellers who purchased near $580,000 in 2019 and are selling near $895,000 in 2025 average over $300,000 after typical costs King County Assessor, NWMLS. Even buyers who entered near the 2022 peak at $880,000 to $890,000 are now close to or above breakeven as 2025 prices push toward new highs.
Over ten years, Seattle sellers have captured generational equity gains. Homes that sold for $400,000 to $450,000 in 2015 are now closing at $800,000 to over $1,000,000 depending on neighborhood and condition King County Assessor. Capitol Hill, Fremont, Ballard, and the Central District have led appreciation while more peripheral Seattle neighborhoods have followed at a slight lag.
Seattle Analytics For Both
Population, supply pipeline, and housing mix signals that buyers and sellers both need to understand before reading any single price number in isolation.
The shared Seattle market temperature shows one of the tightest supply conditions in any major US city. Population near 749,300 with household formation continuing despite affordability pressure WA OFM, Census. Seattle issued approximately 3,900 building permits in the trailing year, a level that is not keeping pace with demand additions from continued tech employment growth and regional in-migration.
Over six months, the Seattle market has moved from its seasonal fall pause into an accelerating spring demand environment. Active inventory never exceeded 1,845 homes during the period NWMLS, keeping conditions firmly seller-leaning throughout. Tech sector hiring has resumed at Amazon and Microsoft after the 2022 to 2023 correction period, supporting a buyer pool with significant income capacity relative to the broader market.
The one-year Seattle shared view shows no evidence of a price floor softening. Prices did not fall below $815,000 at any point in the trailing 12 months, confirming the demand durability of a market anchored by one of the highest-income tech employment concentrations in the world NWMLS, WCRER. Both buyers and sellers should understand that Seattle pricing is shaped by a different demand base than most Pacific Northwest markets.
The five-year shared Seattle picture shows a market that corrected from its 2022 peak and re-accelerated faster than most observers expected. The tech employment recovery from 2023 to 2025 coincided with Amazon office return mandates and continued Microsoft expansion, pulling high-income buyers back into the ownership market WCRER. Population growth has been sustained by international immigration and domestic migration, keeping underlying household formation positive even as affordability has deteriorated for lower-income buyers.
Over a decade, Seattle's market has become one of the defining stories of West Coast real estate. Ten-year appreciation averages near 8 to 9 percent annually, consistent with the city's status as a top-five US tech employment hub NWMLS historical data, WCRER, King County Assessor. Both buyers and sellers with a ten-year horizon should view Seattle as a market where the premium is real but where volatility around rate cycles and tech sector swings will create shorter-term fluctuations within a longer upward trend.