Is Now Actually a Good Time to Buy in Seattle?

If you've been thinking about buying a home in Seattle, there are plenty of reasons you might be tempted to wait.

Mortgage rates are hovering around 7%. There's continued uncertainty in the economy. And after years of rapidly rising home prices, waiting for things to feel a little more predictable can seem like the sensible thing to do.

But here's the counterintuitive part: for the right buyer, this may be one of the better opportunities we've seen in years.

Not because everything suddenly got inexpensive. It didn't.

Because buyers finally have something they haven't had much of lately: choice, time and leverage.

The crowd has stepped back

Seattle entered fall with considerably more inventory than a year ago. In August, there were 1,611 residential homes for sale, up more than 40% year over year, with approximately 3.4 months of supply. Condos had even more inventory.

Then came the fall market.

Seattle saw 531 new listings hit the market during the week of Sept. 5–11—the largest weekly number in 8 years of tracking—followed by another 456 the following week.

For buyers, that creates opportunities that were hard to find during the frenzy of the last few years.

A home that's been sitting for a few weeks. A seller who values certainty. A property that needs cosmetic work. An offer deadline that came and went.

Those situations can create room to negotiate on more than just price. Depending on the property, we've been able to negotiate seller credits, retain inspection contingencies and structure terms that simply weren't realistic when buyers were competing against multiple offers.

But don't confuse leverage with hesitation

There's another side to this market that I'm seeing firsthand.

While some homes are sitting considerably longer, the right home on the right street in the right neighborhood can still sell very quickly.

That's particularly true for homes with great architecture, thoughtful updates, strong natural light or an especially desirable location.

So having more negotiating power doesn't mean assuming every home will eventually have a price reduction.

If you find the one, you need to recognize it.

I've seen buyers lose good properties because they were waiting for the market to negotiate for them. Sometimes the better strategy is to move decisively on an exceptional home—and negotiate aggressively when the property and circumstances give you the opportunity.

Seattle has never really been one housing market. Conditions can change dramatically from neighborhood to neighborhood, price point to price point and even house to house.

Why October matters

Fall has traditionally created an interesting window for Seattle buyers, and this year that window may be particularly pronounced.

Realtor.com's 2026 analysis identifies Oct. 18–24 as the best projected buying week for the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metro, when the seasonal combination of inventory, reduced competition, longer market times and pricing is expected to be particularly favorable to buyers.

There's also a practical reason.

Seattle's fall listing season doesn't last forever.

New inventory typically drops significantly as we move toward November and the holidays. That means October can offer an unusual combination: plenty of homes still available, fewer buyers competing for them and sellers increasingly aware that their remaining selling window for the year is getting shorter.

And then there are mortgage rates

There's no getting around it: financing is expensive right now.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage moved back above 7% in late September, depending on the rate index.

But I think there's another way buyers should look at this.

You negotiate the purchase price once. Financing can potentially change later.

If rates eventually decline and your financial circumstances allow it, you may have the opportunity to refinance. You can't go back several years from now and renegotiate what you paid for the house.

That's one reason I've also been working with buyers to negotiate seller credits for temporary mortgage rate buydowns.

With a temporary buydown, funds negotiated as part of the transaction can reduce the buyer's effective mortgage payment during the first few years of ownership. For example, a common 2-1 structure reduces the effective payment rate by 2 percentage points during the first year and 1 point during the second before returning to the full note rate. The exact structure and credit needed depend on the loan and lender.

It can be an effective way to use today's buyer leverage to make those first couple of years more manageable—particularly if rates eventually improve and refinancing becomes attractive.

But there's an important distinction: a future refinance should be viewed as an opportunity, not the financial plan.

I remember the early 2000s all too well. I was one of many homeowners using adjustable-rate mortgages and refinancing every few years. Then 2008 came along and provided a pretty stark reminder of what can happen when your long-term strategy depends on always being able to refinance.

That's why I still want my buyers to be comfortable with the mortgage they're taking on today. If rates come down later, great. But the purchase needs to make sense even if they don't.

So, is now the time to buy?

For everyone? No.

But if you're financially ready, plan to own the home for a number of years and have been waiting for a market where buyers have more choices and more negotiating power, this is a market worth paying attention to.

The best opportunity isn't necessarily the house with the biggest price reduction.

It might be finding a great house without 10 other buyers chasing it.

It might be negotiating a seller credit that makes the financing considerably easier.

Or it might simply be having enough time to make a thoughtful decision without feeling like you have to waive every contingency to compete.

Sometimes the best time to buy isn't when everything feels good.

It's when you have choices.