Is the Seattle-Area Housing Market Shifting in Favor of Buyers?
Yes, at least a little. As of July 2026, both King and Snohomish Counties are showing softer prices, longer days on market, and rising inventory compared to a year ago. Snohomish County's average sale price is down 6.1% year over year to $785,000, and King County is down 1.3% to $1.15 million. For buyers, that means more time to decide and real negotiating room. For sellers, it means pricing correctly from day one matters more than it did last summer.
I pulled the latest numbers for King and Snohomish Counties, the two markets I work in every single day, and walked through what they actually mean beyond the headlines. Here's the full breakdown.
What's Happening in Snohomish County Right Now
Snohomish County's average sales price is sitting at $785,000, down 6.1% from a year ago. That is a meaningful pullback, and it is showing up in how long homes sit on the market too. Days on market climbed to 29, up almost 21%, and inventory has loosened to nearly four months of supply, up 44% from a year ago.
None of that means the market has collapsed. It means Snohomish County is normalizing after several years of sellers holding almost all the leverage. Four months of supply is still a market that favors sellers over buyers in the textbook sense, but it is a very different conversation than the multiple-offer chaos we saw not long ago.
If you are not used to watching "months of supply" as a number, here is the shorthand: it is how long it would take to sell every home currently listed at the current pace of sales, with no new listings added. Under three months typically favors sellers. Around six months is considered balanced. Both King and Snohomish Counties are still on the seller side of that line, just not as heavily as they were a year ago.
King County Is Moving in the Same Direction
King County's average sales price is $1.15 million, down 1.3% year over year. That is a much smaller drop than Snohomish County, which tells you King County's demand is holding up better, even as conditions shift.
Days on market moved up to 27, a 17.4% increase, and inventory climbed to 4.5 months of supply, up 28% from last year. Put the two counties side by side and the pattern is consistent: prices softening slightly, buyers getting more time, and more homes to actually choose from. That is a real shift from where both markets stood exactly a year ago.
A Closer Look at Bothell, Kenmore, and Woodinville
Zooming into the three cities I work in most closely tells a more nuanced story than the county-level numbers alone.
- Bothell is averaging just over $1 million, down 7.8% year over year, the steepest pullback of the three.
- Kenmore is actually moving the opposite direction, up 1.2% to $1.1 million.
- Woodinville is holding essentially flat at $1.4 million, down just under 1%.
That spread matters. It means you cannot treat "the Eastside" or "North King County" as one market and expect the pricing strategy that works in Kenmore to work the same way in Bothell. Local conditions city by city are diverging even while the county averages tell a simpler story. If you are trying to figure out how Kenmore compares to Bothell for your own move, this is exactly the kind of detail that should shape the decision, not just the county average.
Whether the numbers above tell you it is time to sell, time to buy, or time to just get a clearer read on your specific situation, that is exactly what a strategy session is for. Request a private real estate strategy session and we will walk through what these shifts mean for your home or your search, not just the headlines.
What This Shift Means for You
Softer prices and rising inventory change the playbook for buyers and sellers differently, and it is worth being specific about each.
If you're selling
Pricing right from day one matters more now than it did a year ago. In a market with nearly four to four and a half months of supply, an overpriced listing does not just sit, it actively signals to buyers that there is room to negotiate harder than there actually is. I have watched this play out with clients across Bothell, Kenmore, and Woodinville this year: the homes that get priced to current data, not to what the neighbor's house sold for eighteen months ago, are the ones that move. This is especially true if you are rightsizing out of a longtime family home, where the temptation to anchor on an old number is strongest. If you are weighing whether now is the right window to sell, or you want a clear-eyed read on what your specific home is worth in this market, that conversation starts with the actual comps, not a guess.
If you're buying
You finally have some breathing room and some negotiating power you have not had in years. Longer days on market and more inventory mean you are less likely to be steamrolled into waiving inspections or offering tens of thousands over asking just to be competitive. That does not mean every seller will negotiate, and pricing still varies significantly by city, as Bothell, Kenmore, and Woodinville show. But it does mean you can afford to be more deliberate about the home and the neighborhood you choose, rather than taking whatever survives a bidding war.
This is also a good moment to revisit your numbers. If financing and monthly payment math are part of what is holding you back from making a move, running your specific scenario is worth doing before you start touring. And do not assume every city in this data set is playing by the same rules. A buyer targeting Bothell right now, where prices are down nearly 8%, is in a very different negotiating position than a buyer targeting Kenmore, where prices are still climbing.
The Bottom Line
Both King and Snohomish Counties are shifting toward balance: prices are softening slightly, homes are taking longer to sell, and inventory is climbing across the board. But the city-by-city breakdown in Bothell, Kenmore, and Woodinville shows those trends do not land evenly, and the right move for you depends on which of those markets you are actually in.
If you want to know what this means for your specific home or your specific search, rather than the county averages, let's have that conversation. Request a private real estate strategy session and we will build a strategy based on your goals, not just the headlines.
Common Questions About the King and Snohomish County Housing Market
Is it a buyer's market or a seller's market in King and Snohomish Counties right now?
Neither, exactly. Both counties are shifting toward balance, with softer prices, longer days on market, and rising inventory, but King County at 4.5 months of supply and Snohomish County at nearly 4 months are both still short of the six months of supply that typically defines a true buyer's market.
Why is Bothell down more than Kenmore or Woodinville?
Local price movement varies by city even when the county trend is consistent. Bothell's average sales price is down 7.8% year over year, compared to Kenmore's 1.2% increase and Woodinville's roughly flat performance, which is why city-level data matters more than the county average when you are pricing a specific home or planning a specific purchase.
What does "months of supply" actually measure?
It is an estimate of how long the current inventory would last at the current sales pace if no new homes were listed. King County is at 4.5 months and Snohomish County is at nearly 4 months, both up sharply from a year ago but still short of the roughly six months that typically signals a true buyer's market.
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