More Listings and Lower Rates

Published on: November 5, 2025

Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS), the source for the most current, accurate market listing data in Washington state, today released its October 2025 Market Snapshot.

Market Recap

Mortgage interest rates continued to trend lower in October, ending the month at 6.17% for 30-year fixed-rate loans, the lowest level since early October 2024. Across NWMLS counties, the number of sales and median prices fell year-over-year by 4% and 1.5%, respectively, while active listings jumped 27%, giving buyers more options in the market despite ongoing affordability challenges. Compared to September, both sales and median prices increased modestly, by about 1% and 1.5%, following declines in the previous month.

“The year-over-year numbers suggest that potential buyers continue to be constrained by high interest rates. While it might be tempting, it would be overreaching to attribute the latest month-over-month changes to lower interest rates. One month of data does not constitute a trend, and it is very difficult to predict whether the current moderating trend will continue,” said Steven Bourassa, Director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington.

October 2025 Key Takeaways

Active Listings

• There was a 27% increase in the total number of properties listed for sale year-over-year, with 18,791 active listings on the market at the end of October 2025, compared to 14,795 at the end of October 2024. When compared to the previous month, active inventory decreased by 1,261 listings (-6.3%), down from 20,052 in September 2025.
• The number of homes for sale year-over-year increased in all of NWMLS’s coverage area, with 24 out of 27 counties seeing a double-digit year-over-year increase. The six counties with the highest year-over-year increases in active inventory for sale were Thurston (+49%), Snohomish (+42.2%), Jefferson (+37.4%), Clallam (+37.2%), Ferry (+35.7%), and Okanogan (+34%).

Closed Sales

• The number of closed sales decreased by 4% year-over-year (6,222 in October 2025 compared to 6,479 in October 2024). When compared to the previous month, the number of closed sales increased slightly by .8%, up from 6,170 sales in September 2025.
• 16 out of 27 counties saw a decrease in the number of closed sales year-over-year, while 10 saw an increase, and 1 showed no change (Wahkiakum). The six counties with the largest increases were Grays Harbor (+44.3%), Chelan (+30.7%), Kittitas (+26.1%), Grant (+24.3%), Clallam (+19.8%), and Douglas (+13.5%).

Median Sales Price and Total Dollar Value

• The median sales price for residential homes and condominiums sold in October 2025 was $640,000 — a decrease of 1.5% when compared to October 2024 ($650,000). Compared to the previous month, the median price increased by 1.5% ($630,700 in September 2025).
• The three counties with the highest median sale prices were King ($887,300), San Juan ($764,750), and Snohomish ($739,500), and the three counties with the lowest median sale prices were Ferry ($219,900), Columbia ($242,498), and Pacific ($315,000). 
• The total dollar value of closed sales in October 2025 for residential homes was $4,646,829,146 and was $490,930,169 for condominiums ($5,137,759,315 in total).

Consumer and Broker Activity

NWMLS also provided insights into consumer activities during the month of October 2025:

• Keyboxes located at listed properties were accessed 145,459 times in October 2025, a 9.9% decrease from September 2025 when they were accessed 161,356 times. Keybox activity decreased slightly year-over-year by .8%, with keyboxes being accessed 146,608 times in October 2024.
• The total number of property showings scheduled through NWMLS-provided software decreased 11.2% from 120,489 in September 2025 to 106,980 in October 2025. This was a year-over-year increase of 3.4% from the number of showings in October 2024 (110,736).
• In October 2025, there were 20,646 listed properties that were eligible for the Down Payment Resource program offered by NWMLS, a 1.6% decrease from 20,979 in September 2025. This was a 21.1% year-over-year increase from 17,049 eligible listings in October 2024. 73.9% of listings in the NWMLS database were eligible for down payment program assistance.