Two things changed in September, and they pull in opposite directions. The Eastside crossed into buyer's-market territory, with 4.1 months of supply, inventory up 49%, and a median down 10% to $1,425,000. Meanwhile Seattle held up better than it has in months: the median house sold for $960,000, down just 2%, on 3.0 months of supply. The second change is the one buyers will feel. Mortgage rates averaged 6.86% in September against 6.35% a year ago, and that half point was enough to push the monthly payment on a median Seattle house up $230 from last September, even though the price fell. The cost of waiting stopped working in buyers' favor this month.
One addition starting with this update: the Eastside now gets its own section. I am doing more work over there, including a pending in Rose Hill, so it belongs in the report rather than folded into the county number.
Southeast Seattle: Steadier Than the Headline
Southeast Seattle (Mt. Baker, Columbia City, Beacon Hill, Seward Park, Hillman City and Rainier Beach) posted a September median of $780,000 for houses, down 8% from $851,000 last September.
Only 35 houses closed, which is the number to hold onto before reading anything into that 8%. At that volume the median moves on whichever handful of houses happened to close, and this area swings every month for exactly that reason.
Supply is the steadier signal, and it loosened only slightly: 150 houses on the market at the end of September against 119 a year ago, with 59 going pending, for 2.5 months of supply against 2.2 last year. That is the tightest of the four areas in this report by a clear margin, and Southeast Seattle has now spent the whole year as the most balanced part of the county.
The pace data splits the way it has all autumn. Of the 35 sales, 6 sold above asking in an average of 7 days at a median 3% over, another 6 sold at asking, and 10 sold below. The remaining 13, or 37%, changed price or relisted before selling, and those averaged 68 days. Measured from first asking price, nearly half of September's sales here, 17 of 35, were done inside 15 days at the full original number, while the four that ran past 91 days finished at 87.9% of where they started.
For buyers, the payment math still favors this year locally: $5,118 a month on the median Southeast Seattle house against $5,291 last September, because the price fell further than rates rose. One caution that has grown: 20% of local sales that reached contract over the past year did not close, the highest of the four areas, so financing and terms deserve scrutiny on both sides.
Seattle Citywide: The Smallest Decline in Months
Across all Seattle neighborhoods the median house closed at $960,000, down 2% from $975,000. After a run of 7% and 8% declines, that is close to flat, and it is the best year-over-year reading the city has posted since spring.
Selection kept building. There were 1,671 houses on the market at the end of September, up 25% year over year, against 564 going pending, down 10%, which puts supply at 3.0 months. That is up from 2.1 a year ago and is the loosest September the city has seen in at least a decade, but it is still inside the neutral band rather than past it.
The sale-pace numbers are worth reading carefully this month, because the report now sorts sales into four groups that do not overlap: a home that changed its price or relisted before selling counts only in that group, even if it eventually sold over asking. On that basis, of 396 Seattle sales, 95 (24%) sold above list in an average of 5 days at a median 4% over, 80 (20%) sold at list, 69 (18%) sold below, and 152 (38%) changed price or relisted first and averaged 81 days.
Measured from the first price asked, 203 of those 396 sales, 51.3%, closed inside 15 days at 100% of the original number. The 52 that ran past 91 days closed at 87.9%. That gap, roughly twelve points of price between the fast lane and the slow one, is the clearest argument in this report for pricing correctly on day one.
The affordability picture reversed. The payment on a median Seattle house is now $6,299 against $6,069 last September, up $230 a month or $2,761 a year, because the half-point rise in rates outweighed the $15,000 drop in price. For most of this year I have been writing that waiting paid off. In September it stopped paying.
The Eastside: Across the Line
This is the section that is new, and September is a fitting month to start it, because the Eastside did something none of the other areas did.
The median Eastside house sold for $1,425,000, down 10% from $1,575,000. Inventory rose 49% to 1,941 houses, pendings fell 17% to 478, and the result is 4.1 months of supply against 2.3 a year ago. On the scale Windermere uses in these reports, zero to two months is a seller's market, two to four is neutral, and four or more is a buyer's market. The Eastside crossed that line in September. Seattle, Southeast Seattle and the county as a whole did not.
The selling data matches. Of 443 Eastside sales, only 48, or 11%, sold above list, the smallest share of the four areas, while 218, or 49%, changed price or relisted before selling and averaged 91 days doing it. Measured from first asking price, 37.7% closed inside 15 days at the full number, the lowest share here, and the 19.6% that ran past 91 days finished at 84.4%, the steepest discount in the report.
Two caveats keep this from being a crisis story. Only 11% of Eastside pendings failed to close over the past year, the best of the four areas, so the deals that get signed are holding together. And the payment on a median Eastside house actually fell, to $9,350 from $9,803, because the price decline outran the rate increase by a wide margin.
For buyers who work in Redmond or Bellevue, this is the most negotiating room the Eastside has offered in years. My Rose Hill guide covers one slice of it in detail, including why the Kirkland and Redmond city line matters more than buyers expect.
Condos: Looser Everywhere
Condos remain the softest part of every market in this report, and September widened the gap rather than closing it.
Seattle condos carry 7.3 months of supply, up from 4.8 a year ago, which is well past the four-month line. The median was $530,000, up 1%, which sounds like stability until you look at how those sales happened: of 147 closings, just 9 sold above list, while 83, or 57%, changed price or relisted first and averaged 126 days on market. Nearly a third of sales took more than 91 days and finished at 85.1% of their first asking price.
Eastside condos are at 5.2 months, up from 3.2, with a median of $600,000, down 18%. Countywide the figure is 6.1 months against 3.7, on a median of $496,000, down 6%. The price-change share is 57% to 58% in all three, which is the real story: a condo seller who prices optimistically is now the rule rather than the exception, and the market charges them four months for it.
Southeast Seattle condos should not be read at all this month. Three units closed. The median of $525,000 and the 20% decline attached to it are arithmetic, not information. If you are weighing formats, my condo, townhouse and house comparison covers what each actually costs to own.
King County: Flat Prices, One Third More Choice
The countywide median house came in at $949,975, down 1% from $957,000, which makes the county the steadiest price in this report. Underneath it, 5,578 houses were on the market at the end of September, up 36%, against 1,663 pendings, down 14%, for 3.4 months of supply against 2.1 last year.
Of 1,351 county sales, 218 (16%) sold above list in 6 days at a median 3% over, 220 (16%) sold at list, 300 (22%) sold below, and 613 (46%) changed price or relisted first and averaged 84 days. Measured from first price, 41.6% closed inside 15 days at the full number and the 16.1% that passed 91 days closed at 86.7%.
Two county-level numbers are worth watching. The share of new listings that ultimately close has fallen to 55% in Seattle and 57% countywide, down from 62% and higher a year ago, meaning more sellers are listing and not selling. And about 15% of accepted county offers failed to close over the past year, unchanged from August.
The payment on a median county house is $6,233 against $5,957 last September, up $276 a month or $3,316 a year, the same rate-driven reversal the city saw.
One methodology note worth knowing, because it connects to a change I wrote about last month. These reports now measure cumulative days on market as the MLS figure plus any time a home spent in First Look, the pre-market status NWMLS introduced in September. NWMLS leaves First Look days out of its own cumulative count. Windermere adds them back. That is exactly the gap my First Look article told buyers to ask about, and it is good to see it closed in the data rather than left to the reader.
September 2026 at a Glance
| Area | Median (houses) | YoY | Median (condos) | YoY | Months of supply (houses) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southeast Seattle | $780,000 | -8% | $525,000 | -20% | 2.5 |
| Seattle (all areas) | $960,000 | -2% | $530,000 | +1% | 3.0 |
| Eastside | $1,425,000 | -10% | $600,000 | -18% | 4.1 |
| King County | $949,975 | -1% | $496,000 | -6% | 3.4 |
Southeast Seattle's figures rest on 35 house sales and 3 condo sales, so treat that row as a rough indication rather than a measurement.
What This Means for You
- 01If you're selling a house in Southeast Seattle: you are in the tightest of these four markets at 2.5 months, and nearly half of September's sales here closed inside 15 days at the full original price. The 37% that changed price first averaged 68 days. Price to the comps that actually closed, not to last spring.
- 02If you're selling on the Eastside: the market moved under you this quarter. At 4.1 months of supply with half of sales requiring a price change, the opening price is now the entire strategy. Starting high costs about three months and roughly 16% off your first asking price if you end up in the 91-day group.
- 03If you're buying a house: rates moved against you this month, so the arithmetic is genuinely different than it was in August. Payments rose year over year in Seattle and the county even as prices fell. The offset is choice and leverage, and both are strongest on the Eastside right now.
- 04If you're condo shopping: 7.3 months of supply in Seattle, 6.1 countywide, and roughly 57% of sellers cutting price before closing. Ask for terms as well as price.
- 05If you're a first-time buyer: the rate move hurt, but the under-$1M part of the market is where supply has grown most. My first-time buyer guide covers Washington's down payment programs and how to use a market like this one.
The Bottom Line
September split the region in two. Seattle and King County posted their smallest price declines in months on steadily growing inventory, while the Eastside gave back 10% and crossed into buyer's-market supply for the first time in this cycle. Southeast Seattle stayed the tightest market of the four, on sales volume too thin to read closely.
The change that touches everyone is the rate move. A half point of mortgage rate did more to monthly payments than a year of falling prices did, which is why payments rose in Seattle and the county even as medians fell. If you have been waiting for a better entry point, September is the month to recheck your assumptions rather than extend the wait. For last month's picture, see the August update.
Wondering what this market means for your home's value? I'll run a free, no-obligation valuation using live neighborhood data, not a Zestimate. Or, if you're buying, reach out and I'll set up alerts for the neighborhoods and price bands where the data favors you.