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Hi, I'm Doron Weisbarth with Weisbarth & Associates, and welcome to my September 2026 Market Update! So... are we normal again? The short answer is: I'm not so sure. August gave us a collection of signals that don't fit neatly into a single story. Some of what happened looked like a pretty normal transition from summer into fall. Other parts were anything but normal. And rather than try to force all of that into a nice, clean explanation, let me show you what actually happened. This graph compares what happened in our King County single-family home market from July to August this year with what typically happens during that same period, based on data from the previous ten years. The blue bars show the change this year, in 2026, and the gray bars show the typical July-to-August changes of years past. We’re going to look at each one of these measured items more closely, and as you look across these six measurements, you'll see why I'm having a hard time calling August normal. Let's start with sellers. New listings dropped 19% from July to August. Now, listings normally decline this time of year, so the fact that they fell isn't particularly surprising. What's unusual is how much they fell. Typically, we'd expect a decline of about 9%. This year, it was more than twice that. But while sellers were pulling back, buyers actually became more active. Pending sales — homes that went under contract during the month — increased nearly 7%. Typically, they decline about 2% from July to August. And we see something similar when we look at showings. Showings per listing increased 7%, compared with essentially no change in a typical year. So we had fewer new homes coming onto the market, more homes going under contract, and more buyers showing up to see homes for sale. You might look at those three numbers and think, "Okay, the market is strengthening." Except... then we get to prices and days on market. Median prices fell 7.4% from July to August. Again, a decline in August isn't unusual, but typically it's only about 1.4%. And homes took considerably longer to sell. Median days on market went from 11 days in July to 17 days in August. That's a 55% increase, compared with a typical increase of about 15%. That’s a huge change. And then, after all of that, look at what happened to the number of homes for sale. It declined 3.8% — remarkably close to the typical August decline of 2.9%. So that's August for you. Fewer sellers. More pending sales. More showings. Lower prices. Longer market times. And, somehow, a fairly normal decline in the number of homes available for sale. Those things don't necessarily contradict one another. But they also don't give us a nice, clean answer like, "The market is getting stronger," or, "The market is getting weaker." We can see very clearly what buyers and sellers did in August. What's much harder to tell from one month's data is what was driving those decisions. One possibility is that lower prices encouraged some buyers to act. Both pending sales and showings increased as prices declined. But I want to be careful with that explanation because median prices can also change simply because of the mix of homes that happen to sell in a particular month. So just because those things happened at the same time does not mean one event necessarily caused the other. Another possibility is that we're finally seeing the normal transition into the late summer-early fall market. Normally, new listings peak in the spring and then decline as we move through summer. But this year, listings remained remarkably steady from April all the way through July. It wasn't until August that we finally saw that drop. And, of course, several things could be happening at once, which, actually, would not surprise me at all. Price, selection, interest rates, consumer confidence, individual circumstances — all of those can affect when someone decides it's time to buy or sell. So August gave us plenty of information about what happened. Figuring out what it all means is going to require a little more time. By the way, if you'd like to spend a little more time looking at this data and reading the full analysis, you'll find everything in my September newsletter, available online and for download, for free, at Weisbarth dot com forward slash newsletter. That’s Weisbarth dot com forward slash newsletter. Okay, so what am I going to be keeping my eyes on in the next few months? Easy — pending sales! Pending sales are one of our better leading indicators because they tell us what buyers are doing right now, rather than closed sales, which tell us what buyers were doing several weeks ago. And that's what makes September particularly interesting. If buyer activity remains stronger than its normal seasonal pattern in the coming months, then August may turn out to have been a harbinger rather than an anomaly. But if it doesn't, then August may simply have been one unusual month. We’ll find out soon enough. So... are we normal again? Maybe. Some familiar seasonal patterns returned in August. Others didn't. And right now, we simply don't have enough information to know whether we're seeing the beginning of a meaningful shift or just one unusual month. For now, I'd rather watch what happens next than pretend the data is telling us something it isn't. And if you or someone you know are thinking about buying or selling, uncertainty doesn't necessarily mean you should wait. It means your strategy matters. At Weisbarth & Associates, we've developed a three-step system for buyers and a five-step system for sellers designed to help our clients make good decisions based on the market we actually have. If you have questions, specific or general, you can reach out through this website, email me, text me, or, my favorite, pick up the phone and give me a call directly at 206-779-9808. That’s 206-779-9808. I love talking with old friends and new ones, truly! What’s more, your business and your referrals truly make a difference in our community! Every time we help someone buy or sell a home, we make a donation to Akin, an amazing nonprofit that helps children and families thrive throughout our community. Thanks for watching. If you find this information helpful, remember to like, subscribe, and follow for more updates. You can also subscribe to my monthly newsletter at Weisbarth dot com forward slash newsletter. I'm Doron Weisbarth with Weisbarth & Associates. Enjoy the beginning of our fall season, and I’ll see you next month!

Hi, I'm Doron Weisbarth with Weisbarth & Associates, and welcome to my August 2026 Market Update! You know, for the past several years, most people buying or selling a home in the Greater Seattle area have really known only one kind of market – a seller’s market. Inventory was extremely low, buyers routinely found themselves competing against multiple offers, and sellers became accustomed to the idea that a well-maintained home would sell almost immediately. And, technically speaking, we're still in that kind of market today. But if you've been paying attention lately, you've probably noticed that something feels a little different. Let me show you what the data reveals. At first glance, this graph may look a little busy, but the story it's telling is actually pretty simple. The dark blue line shows median prices. The orange line shows pending sales, which is a pretty good measure of buyer activity. The green line shows new listings coming onto the market. And the light blue line shows the number of homes available for sale. And while all four lines are interesting, I want you to focus mainly on the relationship between the orange line and the green line, and how they result in the light blue line. Let's start with the orange line. Despite changing interest rates, inflation, stock market volatility, political uncertainty, and enough alarming headlines to keep cable news in business for another hundred years, buyers have continued buying homes, and pretty much at the same pace over the last four years. You can see the dotted line, representing the trend line for this data that looks pretty flat. Meaning, that that pattern of the market – namely, the demand – has not really changed in these past year Now let's look at the green line. If you look at the supply pattern in past years, you can clearly see how the number of new listings would peak during the spring and then gradually begin declining as summer progressed. I marked those peaks with the red arrow. This year, though, that spring surge never really ended. Or at least, it hasn’t yet. You can see that all the way on the right where the line is almost flat. Meaning that new listings have remained elevated for several months now, giving buyers more choices and opportunities. And that's what brings us to the light blue line. When more homes come onto the market while buyers continue purchasing them at a fairly steady pace, inventory will naturally rise. And that's exactly what we've been seeing. Think of it this way. Imagine turning on the faucet in your bathtub while keeping the drain open so that the water can drain out. If the faucet is turned on to a drizzle, so that the water drains faster than it’s being filled, then the tub will not fill. However, if you crank up the faucet so that the water is gushing in, and the drain, which is draining at a steady pace, is not able to keep up, then your bathtub will fill up. And this is also where that dark blue median-price line becomes interesting. Prices are a little lower than they were at this time last year, but overall they've remained relatively steady. To me, that's another indication that buyers are still very much in the market. What's changed isn't so much the demand as the amount of supply that demand now has to absorb. So what I’m seeing is that the market's velocity has changed. I think that's why so many people have the feeling that the market itself is changing. And that’s possible, but this is a bit of an unusual change. We’re not seeing buyers departing the market. What we’re seeing are a plethora of sellers who’ve entered the market. By the way, if you'd like to spend a little more time looking at this graph and reading the full analysis, you'll find everything in my August newsletter, available online and for download, for free, at Weisbarth.com/newsletter. That’s Weisbarth.com/newsletter. And here’s an interesting fact for you. Median days on market in King County increased only slightly, from ten days last year to eleven days this year, while Seattle itself remained unchanged at just nine days. Many homes are still selling quickly enough, and some continue to attract multiple offers. To me, this is further evidence that we are not witnessing the disappearance of demand. Instead, we're watching supply gradually catch up with it. And that's an important distinction. A true buyer's market often develops when demand weakens substantially. That's not what's happening here. The difference is that sellers now have more competition from other sellers. That’s pretty much it. Of course, these are only broad patterns, and every home has its own story. Some homes will still receive multiple offers within days. Others may take several weeks to sell. Preparation, presentation, pricing, location, and timing still matter enormously. That's why understanding the overall market is important, but understanding the market for your particular home is even more valuable. So if you're considering buying or selling this year, or if someone you know could use some guidance, my team and I would be happy to help. We’ve developed systems for buyers and for sellers with proven results. You can reach out through this website, email me, text me, or, my favorite, pick up the phone and give me a call directly at 206-779-9808. That’s 206-779-9808. I love talking with old friends and new ones, truly! And remember, when you work with our team, you're also helping support Akin, an amazing nonprofit that helps children and families thrive throughout our community. Thanks for watching. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow for more updates, and be sure to check out the full August newsletter at Weisbarth.com/newsletter. I'm Doron Weisbarth with Weisbarth & Associates. Enjoy the rest of your summer, and I'll see you next month.

Hi, I'm Doron Weisbarth with Weisbarth & Associates, and welcome to my July 2026 Market Update! If you've been wondering why the market feels different this year, the answer isn't because buyers disappeared. It's because sellers finally showed up. You know, over the past several years we've all lived through higher interest rates, inflation, stock market swings, political uncertainty, and no shortage of headlines predicting that the housing market was about to come to a screeching halt. But when I look at the actual data from our local multiple listing service, the NWMLS, I keep coming back to the same conclusion. The buyers never really left. In fact, they kept buying homes. So what’s changed this year isn't demand, it's supply. Let me show you what I mean. This chart really tells the whole story. Bur before we look at the numbers, let me explain what you're looking at. The orange line represents pending sales of single-family homes in King County, or in other words, the number of homes buyers put under contract each month, but had not yet close. The blue line shows the median sales price of those homes. And the green bars represent the average number of new listings that came onto the market during the second quarter of each year. Meaning, if you add up the number of new listings in April, May and June of each year, divide by three, that’s the number. And while I use the data from King County, these trends hold in other counties in our area as well. Now, don't worry about every little bump and wiggle in the lines. Instead, step back and look at the bigger picture, because what we’re looking for are the trends. The trends tell us what's really happening in the market and how buyer and sellers are behaving. The first thing that jumps out at me is the information in the orange line. Despite everything that's happened over the past four years, buyer activity has remained remarkably consistent. The dotted orange line shows the trendline for this data, and you can see how nice and perfectly horizontal it is. Yes, there are the normal seasonal ups and downs, but overall buyers have continued buying homes at a very steady rate. Now compare that with the green bars. Remember, each green bar represents the average number of new listings each month during the second quarter of that year. Here the dotted green line shows the trendline for this data. You can see how it’s inclined up, because every year these green lines have gotten taller. To put this in real number, back in 2023, the average number of new listings during the second quarter was just over 2,150 homes per month. A year later it increased to almost 2,600. Last year it climbed above 3,000. And this year we're averaging more than 3,200 new listings each month. That's about a fifty percent increase in just four years. And that's a pretty remarkable shift in such a short period of time. At the same time, as I mentioned earlier, buyer activity has remained surprisingly steady. So when you put those two trends together, the result is exactly what you'd expect. Inventory naturally increases. Today we're sitting at about three-and-a-half months of inventory. Now, compared with the past few years, that's a noticeable increase. Historically, though, it's still generally considered a seller's market. The difference is that buyers finally have more choices than they've had in quite some time. And honestly, I think that's healthier for everyone. Buyers now have time to compare several homes before making one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives. By the way, if you'd like to spend a little more time looking at this chart and reading the full analysis, you'll find everything in my July newsletter, available online and for download, for free, at Weisbarth.com/newsletter. That's Weisbarth.com/newsletter. Now, don't get the impression that homes aren't selling. Good homes—properly priced and marketed—are still selling quickly. But the market does seem increasingly divided. And that’s another interesting consequence of all this. Some homes are selling very quickly, while others take longer. But they do sell, and that’s an important things to understand. As for prices, they're still slightly lower than they were a year ago, but they're continuing to move upward month-over-month, which is exactly what we'd expect during the spring and early summer market. So here’s an interesting question for you: why are more homeowners finally deciding to sell? My honest answer is... I don't know. I have some theories about it though. One possibility is that many homeowners postponed moving after locking in those historically low mortgage rates a few years ago. And that certainly made sense at the time. But, you see, eventually life catches up with all of us. Whether it’s a change in the family size, or change in jobs, retirement, or some other circumstance. Life doesn’t stand still and like many other things, housing needs evolve. At some point, those life events become more important than the interest rate on your mortgage. And when that happens, the decision to move becomes obvious. Now, whether what we’re seeing is the beginning of a longer-term shift or simply a release of pent-up supply is still too early to know. The next few months should give us a much better picture of where the market is headed. So if you're thinking about buying or selling—or simply you’re trying to understand what today's market means for your own plans—this is a great time to start putting together a strategy. My team and I use real data from our Northwest Multiple Listing Service, proven systems, and years of local market experience and insights to help our clients make confident decisions and maximize their results. And remember, when you work with us, you're also helping support Akin, an amazing nonprofit that helps children and families throughout our community. Your business and your referrals truly make a difference, and that's something we're incredibly proud of. For a no-obligation consultation—or if you'd simply like to bounce around some ideas—reach out by email, text, or, my favorite, a good old-fashioned phone call at 206-779-9808. That's 206-779-9808. Thanks for watching. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow for more updates. And be sure to check out the full July newsletter at Weisbarth.com/newsletter. I'm Doron Weisbarth with Weisbarth & Associates. Enjoy the rest of your summer, and I'll see you next month.