Seattle Housing Market Report: What's Moving Prices This Month

This Month's Numbers

All rows below cover October 2025 and come from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service release dated 2025-11-05, unless the row says otherwise. NWMLS published the changes in percentage terms for several of these series rather than raw prior-month and prior-year totals, so those cells show the change NWMLS reported rather than a number this guide has back-calculated.

Two notes before you use these numbers. First, King County single-family homes alone were up 3.9% year over year in October 2025 (NWMLS via 425 Business, November 2025) — a different direction from the 27-county median, which fell 1.5% over the same period. Second, Zillow Research reports a typical home value of $704,629 for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro, down 6.5% over the past year; Zillow does not date that reading in the data used here, it covers a different geography than NWMLS, and an automated index value is not the same thing as what any individual home would sell or appraise for.

Median days on market is not published in the NWMLS material sourced here. Ask your agent to pull it for your specific county, price band and property type from the MLS directly rather than relying on a regional average.

What Changed and Why

Two concrete things moved the October 2025 numbers.

Mortgage rates fell through the month. NWMLS reported that rates continued to trend lower in October 2025, ending the month at 6.17% for 30-year fixed-rate loans — the lowest level since early October 2024 (NWMLS, released 2025-11-05). Cheaper financing shows up first in closings that were negotiated weeks earlier, which is consistent with closed sales ticking up 0.8% from September 2025 even as they stayed 4% below October 2024. A 30-year fixed quote is not the same as a 15-year fixed, a 5/1 ARM, or an FHA, VA or jumbo rate, and the rate you are personally offered depends on your credit score, down payment, loan size and property type.

Fall inventory withdrawal. Active listings across the 27-county NWMLS area fell 6.3% from September to October 2025, a drop of 1,261 listings (NWMLS, released 2025-11-05). Late-autumn de-listing is a normal seasonal pattern in Washington: sellers who did not find a buyer in the summer often pull back before the holidays rather than carry a stale listing. That monthly tightening is why the regional median rose 1.5% from September to October even though it was still 1.5% below October 2024.

The year-over-year picture runs the other way. End-of-October 2025 active listings were 27% above end-of-October 2024, while closed sales were 4% lower over the identical 12-month window. More standing supply plus fewer completed transactions is the arithmetic behind a regional median that is flat to slightly down year over year, not a sentiment call.

The county split matters. King County's median for homes and condos combined was up 2.6% year over year in October 2025, and single-family homes alone were up 3.9% (NWMLS via 425 Business, November 2025), while the 27-county median fell 1.5% over the same period (NWMLS, released 2025-11-05). Same month, same source family, opposite directions — which is why a regional headline tells you very little about a specific submarket.

What This Means for You

• If you are buying: inventory at the end of October 2025 was 27% higher than a year earlier across the NWMLS 27-county area (NWMLS, released 2025-11-05), so you likely have more comparable homes to weigh than a 2024 buyer did. But listings also fell 1,261 month over month into November, so the specific pool in your price band may be thinner right now. Whether it makes sense to write an offer this month depends on your own situation — a locked rate expiry, a lease ending, a down payment already in cash, or a credit score that is still improving — not on the regional median.
• If you are selling: the 27-county median was $640,000 in October 2025, down 1.5% year over year, while closed sales were down 4% over the same period (NWMLS, released 2025-11-05). Price to the most recent comparable closings in your county and property type, not to a 2024 contract. If you are in King County, where the combined median rose 2.6% year over year (NWMLS via 425 Business, November 2025), the regional decline is the wrong benchmark for your pricing conversation.
• If you are refinancing or holding a loan: 30-year fixed rates ended October 2025 at 6.17%, the lowest since early October 2024 (NWMLS, released 2025-11-05). Pull your current note rate, loan balance and remaining term, then ask a lender for a written estimate including closing costs; the break-even month, not the headline rate, decides whether a refinance is worth doing. Nobody can tell you in advance what rate you will be offered.
• If you are renting and considering buying: the figures in this report are sales data, not rent data — NWMLS does not publish rents here. Use the 27% year-over-year increase in active listings as a measure of choice, and ask a lender what a $640,000 purchase would cost monthly at today's quoted 30-year fixed, FHA or VA terms for your credit profile before you compare it with your current rent.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) — More Listings and Lower Rates (2025-11-05)
2. 425 Business — Report: More Homes on the Market in King, Snohomish Counties; Prices Mixed (2025-11)
3. Zillow Research — Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Home Values