May Market Update Vlog | Weisbarth & Associates

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v7SFT2qyyk

Hi, I’m Doron Weisbarth with Weisbarth & Associates, and welcome to my May 2026 Market Update!

You know, if a Martian landed in Seattle and looked only at our real estate data from the past several years, they’d probably conclude that nothing particularly unusual is happening here.

Which is kind of amazing when you think about it.

Because meanwhile, down on Earth, we’ve had inflation spikes, rapidly changing interest rates, wars, tech layoffs, tariffs, political uncertainty, stock market volatility, and enough economic chaos to make people’s heads spin.

And yet somehow, the local housing market continues to behave in a surprisingly normal and seasonally predictable way.

Honestly, after the last few years, that may be the strangest thing of all.

If we look at the King County single-family home market, the overall trends remain remarkably healthy and normal for this time of year.

Pending sales continue to rise seasonally, new listings are increasing as more sellers enter the market, and median prices climbed steadily from their winter lows through early spring — exactly what we’d typically expect to see this time of year.

Now, one thing that really stands out to me is inventory.

The number of homes for sale is now sitting at levels we haven’t seen since before COVID. Buyers finally have more choices again, and I think that’s one of the main reasons prices have remained relatively restrained compared to the pandemic frenzy years.

And honestly, I think that’s probably healthier.

Homes that are well-prepared, properly marketed, and priced strategically are still selling quickly. Buyers are still active. Life events continue happening. People still need homes.

But buyers now have a little more breathing room, and sellers need to be more strategic than they did a few years ago, when almost anything would sell instantly with twelve offers and someone waiving their firstborn child as part of the contract.

Okay… maybe not literally. But it was getting close there for a while.

And by the way, if you’d like to study these charts more closely and read my full report at your own pace, you can find my complete May newsletter for free at Weisbarth.com/newsletter — that’s Weisbarth.com/newsletter.

Now, there was one interesting little wrinkle in the data this month that caught my attention.

If you look at this second chart, the blue line represents King County median prices, while the orange line represents Seattle median prices.

For quite a while now, these two lines have been tracking each other very closely. Historically, Seattle often outperformed the broader county — especially on prices — but over the past several years the surrounding market has largely caught up, and the data between the two has looked surprisingly similar.

But this month we saw a small divergence.

Seattle median prices actually rose about 1.5% month-over-month, while King County prices declined roughly 4.3% during the same period.

Now, before anybody panics or starts making grand predictions — this may ultimately mean absolutely nothing.

Median price data can be noisy month-to-month depending on the mix of homes that sold. Sometimes a higher concentration of luxury homes or lower-priced homes can temporarily skew the numbers.

But I was curious to see it because we really haven’t seen much separation between Seattle and the broader county lately. And interestingly, that divergence doesn’t really show up in the other metrics. Pending sales, new listings, and overall activity levels still look very similar between the two markets.

So for now, I’d categorize this less as “a trend” and more as “something interesting to watch.”

And honestly, that’s one of the reasons I focus so much on month-over-month movement and broader market behavior instead of dramatic headlines. Real estate markets are emotional, cyclical, and sometimes noisy in the short term. One isolated number rarely tells the full story.

What still seems much more meaningful to me is that buyers continue adapting to uncertainty remarkably well.

For a while, every new headline seemed capable of freezing the market. And sometimes that still happens temporarily — because as I often say, a confused mind will do nothing.

But increasingly, buyers and sellers seem to be adjusting psychologically to the idea that uncertainty itself may simply be part of normal life now.

And that’s probably one reason the market has remained surprisingly resilient despite everything happening around us.

If the normal seasonal patterns continue, there’s a good chance prices either peak this month or sometime in early summer before we gradually move into the typical late-summer slowdown. Of course, unusual economic events could always change the trajectory. But at least for now, the market appears stubbornly committed to behaving normally.

So if you’re thinking about buying or selling this year, strategy matters more than ever.

For sellers, proper pricing, presentation, preparation, and marketing have become critically important again — which is exactly why our proven 5-step seller system was designed for markets like this.

And for buyers, having a clear strategy, understanding your priorities, and being fully prepared before the right home appears can make all the difference — especially as good homes still move very quickly. That’s a major part of our proven 3-step buyer system.

And remember, when you work with our team, your business and referrals also help support Akin and the amazing work they do helping kids and families in need throughout our community.

If you’d like help analyzing your specific situation, my team and I are always happy to offer a no-obligation consultation. And honestly, the best way to reach me is still the old-fashioned way — just pick up the phone and give me a call directly at 206-779-9808. That’s 206-779-9808.

And if you know someone thinking about buying or selling, feel free to refer them my way as well.

Thanks again for watching! Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow for more updates. And once again, you can always read my full newsletter and see all the charts at Weisbarth.com/newsletter — that’s Weisbarth.com/newsletter.

I’m Doron Weisbarth with Weisbarth & Associates, and I’ll see you next time!