King County Real Estate Market Update: June 29, 2026

Inventory just hit its highest level in years while the rest of the country slows down. Here is what that means if you are buying or selling here.

This is my King County real estate market update for the week of June 29, 2026, and something quietly shifted this month that most sellers have not caught up to yet. We now have about 7,550 homes for sale across the county. That is the most active listings I can find in my data going back to early 2023, and it is the sixth week in a row that inventory has climbed. More homes hit the market this past week than the week before, and the pile keeps growing.

Here is the part that makes this week interesting. Across the rest of the country, the flood of new listings has slowed to a trickle. National inventory is up only about 2 percent from a year ago. Washington is one of the few places where homes keep stacking up. So while buyers in other states are watching their options dry up, buyers right here are getting more choice and more room to negotiate. If you are shopping in Renton, Kent, Auburn, or Federal Way, that is the headline you care about.

Let me walk you through the numbers and what they mean for your next move.

The Big Picture: King County at a Glance

The county is sitting in a balanced spot that leans a little more toward buyers every week. Homes are still selling. We closed 551 sales in the last week, which is actually up from the week before. But the share of homes selling above asking has been sliding. Right now about 24 percent of homes sell over list price, down from 28 percent just a month ago. That tells me bidding wars are cooling off and buyers are holding their ground.

The four numbers that define the week. | Source: NWMLS

The median sale price is $869,500. That is up about $14,500 from last week, so prices are not falling. They are just flat. We are not in a crash. We are in a market that finally gave buyers some breathing room without punishing sellers who price correctly.

Three months of supply is the number to remember. Under three months is a seller’s market. Over six months tips to buyers. At 3.2 months, we are right in the balanced zone, and the trend is moving in the buyer’s direction one week at a time. For a fuller look at where this is headed, my King County housing market forecast for 2026 breaks down the inventory and rate outlook by sub-market.

Active listings have climbed for six straight weeks. | Source: NWMLS

Neighborhood Breakdown

The county average hides a lot. Each city is telling its own story right now, and the differences matter if you are trying to price a home or write an offer. Here is where things actually stand in the communities I work in every day.

The Eastside is a different world worth a quick mention for context. Bellevue’s single-family prices have softened about 11 percent from a year ago, and active listings there have jumped more than 50 percent, so luxury buyers over $3 million finally have negotiating room. Sammamish is holding firm in the $1.6 million range with inventory up about 28 percent from last year. Issaquah is steady near $1.07 million. None of that changes the South County story, but it shows how unevenly this slowdown is landing.

What This Means if You Are Buying

You have more power than buyers have had in a long time. With 7,550 homes to choose from and bidding wars cooling, you do not have to rush or stretch. You can take an extra day to think. You can ask for an inspection. You can request a repair credit or a rate buydown and not lose the house over it. A year ago that would have gotten your offer tossed. Today it is normal again.

The other thing that came back this month is contingencies. Inspection, financing, and appraisal contingencies are standard parts of a deal again, not deal-killers. If you have been told you need to waive everything to win, that advice is out of date for most of South County. Here is how to structure a contingent offer that still competes.

On rates, stop waiting for a number that is not coming. The 30-year fixed is sitting around 6.5 percent, roughly where it has been for weeks, and a year ago it was higher at 6.77 percent. Most buyers I work with are buying now and planning to refinance later if rates ease. Trying to time the bottom usually costs more in lost negotiating room than you would save waiting for a quarter-point rate drop.

South County buyers finally have room to be choosy.

What This Means if You Are Selling

This is where I have to be direct. The market is still good to sellers who price right and show well. It is unforgiving to sellers who guess high. Just this past week, 704 homes across the county cut their asking price, up from 625 the week before. Those are sellers who priced on hope, sat too long, and are now chasing the market down. That is the most expensive way to sell.

The fix is to price correctly from day one. Buyers have 7,550 homes to compare yours against, and they are cross-shopping hard. An overpriced home does not just sit. It makes the correctly priced home down the street look like a steal. If you want the exact method I use, I wrote up how to price your home to sell in King County.

The BPO Advantage

Institutional-grade pricing, done in the field every week.

Here is why I keep hammering on pricing. For 9 years I have worked as an active BPO field agent, and I have completed over 10,000 valuations for the same institutional companies that move the market, banks and hedge funds. That is not estimate work for buyers. It is the methodology those firms rely on to price risk, and it is a different muscle than most agents ever use.

In a market with 7,550 homes competing for attention, the online estimate tools are missing badly. They cannot see that the Renton home backs up to a busy road, or that the Kent listing has a finished basement the algorithm never counted. I price the way the bank’s appraiser will, because that is the number that has to hold when the deal goes under contract. When inventory is this high and buyers are this picky, getting the price right on day one is the whole ballgame.

Common Questions About the King County Market

Where This Goes Next

Watch the inventory number. If it keeps climbing past 7,550 in the coming weeks, buyer leverage grows and more sellers will be forced to cut. If new listings finally slow with the summer, things could level off. Either way, the days of throwing any price on a sign and waiting for a bidding war are over for now.