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Hi, I'm Doron Weisbarth with Weisbarth & Associates, and welcome to my October 2026 Market Update! You know, for the past several months, I've been watching our local housing market, hoping to see some indication that this growing inventory of homes for sale is just a temporary phenomenon. Well... so far, the market hasn't been particularly cooperative. Month after month, inventory keeps growing, and I'm beginning to think we may be witnessing something we haven't seen in nearly fifteen years. And while the numbers I'm going to show you are from King County, we're seeing very similar trends in Snohomish and Pierce Counties as well. So, just how significant is this change? Well, in September, King County reached 4.2 months of housing inventory. And to put that into perspective, we haven't seen that much inventory since the first quarter of 2012, as we were finally coming out of the great recession of 2008! Just to explain, months of inventory is essentially a measure of how long it would take to sell all the homes currently available on the market, based on the current pace of sales. Generally speaking, anything below four months is considered a seller's market, between four and six months is a balanced market, and above six months is a buyer's market. So, after nearly fifteen years of living in a market that overwhelmingly favored sellers, we've finally crossed into balanced-market territory. And that raises an interesting question. Where have all the buyers gone? Well... that's the funny thing. They haven't really gone anywhere! Let me show you what I mean. Take a look at these two graphs. They both cover the King County single-family home market. The top graph shows the number of homes available for sale in September of each of the past three years. The bottom graph shows the average monthly number of homes going under contract, or pending sales, from January through September of those same years. Let's start with the top graph. In September 2024, there were about 3,600 homes available for sale. A year later, that number had grown to just under 4,700. And this September, we reached just past 6,000 homes. That's an increase of almost 69% in available homes in just two years! Now, if you saw that number by itself, you might reasonably assume that buyers had simply stopped buying homes. After all, we've been hearing about high interest rates, tech layoffs, affordability problems, and all the other reasons people might be reluctant to buy. But here's where things get interesting. This graph shows the average number of pending homes. For each year, I took the total number of pending sales from January through September and divided it by nine. So these bars show the average number of pending sales per month. Remember, pending sales are a pretty good indication of how many buyers are actually purchasing homes that month. In 2024, we averaged 1,626 pending sales per month. In 2025, it was 1,631. And this year, we're averaging 1,557. So, while the number of homes available for sale has increased by almost 69%, buyer activity has declined by only about 4%. Hardly a decline at all. In other words, buyers haven't disappeared. They're still buying homes at pretty much the same pace they have been for the past couple of years. What's changed is the number of homes they have to choose from. And that changes the entire psychology of the market. Think about it. For years, buyers were conditioned to move quickly, make aggressive offers, and sometimes compromise on things that mattered to them, just to win the deal. Today, those same buyers have considerably more options. They can take their time, compare properties, and be much more selective about what they're willing to buy and how much they're willing to pay. And when they do make an offer, they're negotiating aggressively in their own interest, rather than the seller's. Now, here's something I've noticed while touring homes with my buyer clients. A surprising number of the properties we've visited just aren't all that appealing. Now, that's anecdotal, of course, but it makes me wonder how much of this growing inventory actually consists of homes that buyers really want. And that brings us to pricing. You know, a home doesn't have to be perfect to sell. Buyers have always been willing to accept certain shortcomings, whether it's an outdated kitchen, an awkward floor plan, or a less-than-ideal location. I always say that buying a home is really a process of self-discovery. Because the truth is, you're probably never going to find a home that has absolutely everything you want. There's always some compromise involved. And as a buyer, part of that process is figuring out which features are really important to you, and which ones you're willing to compromise on. But the price has to reflect those shortcomings. When buyers had very few choices, they were often willing to overlook things that bothered them. Today, with so many alternatives available, they're much less inclined to make those compromises unless they're getting something in return, usually in the form of a lower price or other financial concession from the seller. And we're already seeing home prices trending below last year's levels. Even a very attractive, well-presented home can struggle if the asking price doesn't reflect current market conditions. Meanwhile, homes that buyers find desirable and that are priced competitively can still generate strong interest. So we're seeing some homes sell relatively quickly, while others sit on the market for months. By the way, if you'd like to stay informed about what's happening in our local housing market, I invite you to subscribe to my free monthly newsletter at Weisbarth.com/Newsletter. Every month, I share market updates like this one, along with useful information about buying, selling, and owning a home here in the Greater Seattle area. So, what does all of this mean if you're thinking about buying or selling a home? Well, if you're a buyer, I think this is an excellent time to be looking. You've got more homes to choose from, less competition, and considerably more negotiating leverage than we've seen in years. And with prices softening, I think there are some very good opportunities out there right now. In fact, if you're planning to buy a home, I'd encourage you to seriously consider doing so before the end of the year, if that's practical for you. Now, if you're a seller, my advice is a little different. If you have the flexibility to wait, I'd seriously consider holding off until the first quarter of 2027. Our housing market has a very consistent seasonal pattern. Inventory typically reaches its lowest point early in the year, just as buyer activity begins to pick up. That combination tends to shift the advantage pretty strongly back toward sellers. Of course, there's no guarantee that next year will follow the same pattern. But it's something we've seen repeatedly over the years, and I think it's worth considering when deciding when to put your home on the market. Now, every situation is different. And whether you're buying or selling, timing is only one part of a successful strategy. That's why we've developed our proven three-step buyer system and five-step seller system, designed to help our clients make informed decisions and achieve the best possible results, regardless of market conditions. So, if you or someone you know is thinking about buying a home, selling your current home, or perhaps doing both, I'd be happy to help you explore your options and figure out the best timing and strategy. Just email, text, or best of all, call me at 206-779-9808. That's 206-779-9808, for a no-obligation consultation. Let's talk about what makes the most sense for you. And remember, when you work with our team, you're also helping the community. We've been proud supporters of Akin, a local organization that helps children and families thrive. Your business and referrals help us make a real difference in our community. Please remember to like, follow, and subscribe. And don't forget our monthly newsletter, filled with original market analysis, insights, and practical advice. Just visit Weisbarth.com/Newsletter. That's Weisbarth.com/Newsletter. Thanks for watching. I'm Doron Weisbarth with Weisbarth & Associates. Have a spooooky Halloween and I'll see you next month!

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.