Condo Buyers Pay Lowest Median Price Since Early 2023 as Home Choices Hold Near 12-Year High

Published on: November 5, 2026

Active listings rose 25.2% from a year earlier, giving buyers more options, while the single-family median held relatively steady at $644,000, down 2.4%.

Condo buyers in the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) service area paid a median price of $435,000 in October, the lowest since February 2023, while the number of homes for sale held near a 12-year high. Active listings rose 25.2% from a year earlier to 23,519, and the overall median sales price was $620,000, down 3.1%.

Key October Takeaways:

• Condo Prices Drop: Median condo prices hit their lowest point since early 2023, offering a unique affordability window.
• Inventory Swells: Active listings jumped 25.2% year-over-year, pushing market choices near a 12-year high.
• Hidden Help: Over 76% of all active NWMLS listings currently qualify for down payment assistance, a crucial tool for buyers navigating higher interest rates.
• Regional Bright Spots: Kittitas County bucked the trend with an 8.3% median price gain, and Pierce County’s median held steady at $560,000.

While the single-family market remained relatively stable, the median condo price was down 13.0% from a year earlier, compared with 2.4% for single-family homes. Condo buyers had 6.59 months of inventory to choose from, compared with 4.14 for single-family homes. In King County, home to 60% of the region’s active condo listings, condo buyers had 7.0 months of inventory, and the median condo price was $465,000, down 15.5%.

Prices held steady or rose in several markets. Pierce County’s median was unchanged at $560,000, and among counties with at least 50 closed sales, Kittitas (+8.3% to $585,000) and Lewis (+3.2% to $438,725) posted the strongest median price gains.

Across all homes, months of inventory, which measures how long it would take to sell all active listings at the current pace of sales, reached 4.41, the highest for any October since at least 2014. Pending sales totaled 5,541, down 17.8% from a year earlier. That was the fewest for any October since at least 2014 and the sharpest year-over-year decline of 2026. Closed sales totaled 5,332, down 14.3%.

New listings were unchanged from a year earlier at 7,991, so the growth in inventory reflects slower sales rather than more homes coming to market. For every 100 new listings in October, buyers went under contract on about 69 homes, down from about 84 a year earlier. The overall median price has been flat or below its year-earlier level every month of 2026, and October’s 3.1% decline was the second-largest of the year, after January’s 3.3% decline.

Mortgage rates peaked in mid-October, when the average 30-year fixed rate reached 7.40% in the weeks of October 8 and October 15, the highest weekly average in more than a year, according to Freddie Mac. The rate eased to 7.24% by October 29, compared with 6.17% a year earlier.

“The trends that we’ve seen in previous months continued in October,” said Steven Bourassa, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research. “Interest rates rose even further, fueled by high inflation. Thirty-year mortgage interest rates averaged 7.33% in October versus 6.86% in September, a rise of nearly half a percentage point. Meanwhile, active listings for houses and condos continued to be up substantially on a year-over-year basis, while completed sales and median prices declined. Active listings were lower in October than in September, which is why months of inventory remained the same.”

What NWMLS Showing Data Shows

With more homes on the market, buyer attention is spread across more listings. Brokers scheduled 92,740 showings through NWMLS-provided showing software in October, down 13.3% from a year earlier, even as active listings rose 25.2%. Each listing that was shown received an average of 4.0 showings, down 19.2% from 4.9 a year earlier.

Keyboxes at listed properties were opened 137,719 times in October, down 5.3% from a year earlier. Each opening reflects broker access to a listed property, not necessarily a buyer tour.

Window of Opportunity: Down Payment Assistance

More than three of every four listings in the NWMLS database (76.2%) qualified for at least one down payment assistance program in October, up from 73.9% a year earlier.* With mortgage rates above 7%, that assistance can help eligible buyers with upfront costs. Homebuyers searching on NWMLS.com can spot eligible listings by the “Down Payment Help” label next to the listing price.

A Tale of Two Markets: How Conditions Compare Across the Region

Market conditions varied widely across the region, reflecting a stark contrast between tight supply in some counties and plentiful inventory in others. Kitsap County remained the tightest market in the service area with just 3.23 months of inventory, while the nine NWMLS counties east of the Cascades offered a much broader selection at 6.42 months.

King, Snohomish and Pierce counties held 58% of all active listings in the NWMLS service area. Inventory in the three counties rose 31.2% to 13,538, compared with a 17.8% increase across the rest of the service area, while pending sales were down 17.4%. Months of inventory rose to 4.19 from 2.66 a year earlier.

Pierce County’s 3.94 months of inventory was the lowest of the three. Snohomish County again posted the largest inventory increase, up 41.7%, and its median price was $699,250, down 5.4%. In King County, the median was $851,250, down 4.1%, and the single-family median was $925,000, down 7.2%.

About the data: Figures cover residential and condominium listings in the NWMLS service area unless noted. Months of inventory is month-end active listings divided by closed sales for the month. Median prices can shift from month to month with the mix of homes sold, particularly in smaller segments such as condominiums. HIstorical comparisons use NWMLS monthly activty reports dating to January 2014.

*Down payment assistance figures include all property types in the NWMLS database, including multifamily properties and manufactured homes in parks.