January 2026
Market Update

Home sales are way up and I have the market stats to prove it. We just got the stats for market activity in January. I'm talking closed sales, pending sales, sales prices, and we're going to go over what we're seeing in a few markets as well as what I've been seeing the past few weeks with my listings and my buyers that I'm actively working with and writing up offers for.

First up, we're going through Eastside residential only. If you're not familiar, the Eastside is the east side of Seattle. I'm talking Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland. That's the greater Eastside area. And single residential is just single-family homes.

The anticipated themes for 2026 in general were sales up, inventory up, and prices flat to slightly up. And so far, January is delivering two out of those three. First, sales activity is up in a big way. Pending sales jumped 26% year-over-year. That's 374 homes pending in January 2026 compared to 297 in January of 2025. Inventory is also up significantly. We're seeing 49% more homes on the market with 675 active listings at the end of January 2026 compared to 452 at the same time last year.

Now, let's talk about prices. Prices are down 16% from last year. But before jumping to conclusions, it's important to zoom out. January is a very, very small sample size with just 213 closed sales compared to a 10-year monthly average of about 640 sales. You have to remember January closings are typically homes that went under contract in December. And what do we know about December? December is typically a really slow month in real estate. So, we have to look at everything with a grain of salt.

Prices are down about 4% from December 2025, but they're actually up slightly from November. And remember, 2025 was volatile. Prices rose 11% from December 2024 to March 2025. We had a very early spring market and it was a good time to sell. Then they dropped 12% from March to December, and our typical spring market was not what we normally see at all. That means comparisons to early 2025 are going to be misleading for a while.

Another big shift. Multiple offers were at their lowest level in 4 years. Only 6% of January closings sold over list price, which is tied with December 2022 for the lowest percentage we've seen in that time.

Looking ahead, sales volume should continue to rise. Pending sales for all of 2025 totaled 5,113, making it the second-lowest year of the last decade and 33% below the 10-year average of 7,682, which sets the stage for growth this year. And finally, interest rates are helping. Rates are down 86 basis points year-over-year, sitting around 6.1% in January 2026, compared to 6.96% last year. Because of that, the principal and interest payments based on the 30-year rate and the median sales price is down 23% from a year ago, making monthly payments the lowest they've been in years.

All of what I just went over is directly pulled from January statistics. Windermere gives us these awesome charts that I've been showing you, but they are pulled from the Northwest MLS. But I think February closings, aka mainly January pending sales, will tell a different story than what our January stats were telling us.

I have a handful of buyers right now, all different price points and areas. And in some of those markets, we are seeing quite a bit of competition. Again, this is not everywhere, not every price point, but you really are feeling a shift in the market right now. It seems like the spring market has officially started early as per usual, and that was not reflective in January stats since most January closings were from pending sales in December.

I've had clients that don't really want to compete with houses and therefore we're not writing offers on things that we would have because of just the demand, there's already multiple offers in hand, they're going to be going over list price, and that's not something that they're interested in right now, especially after the last year that we've had when buyers have had so much leeway.

It is interesting and just a little bit of a shift. It's not 2021, there's nothing to be scared about, but also it's different than it was this past year. I still think there's a lot of opportunity to get into certain houses at really great prices, but at certain price points and in certain areas, we are seeing that competition.

Now we're at Eastside condos only. Inventory is way up, which we've seen for a little while now. Pending sales are down, not overly dramatically, but they're down. Sold price is also down. We're at $628,000 for the month of January, which is down 15% from this time last year. And again, we're seeing just not very many go for above list price, and quite a few are having a price change before sale.

Jumping into Seattle residential only. We're following similar patterns. These markets are all close to one another. Higher inventory, a little bit lower pending sales. We are just 1% lower on median closed sales price at $850,000 as the median, and then 11% sold above list price, a little bit better than what we've been seeing in some markets. Price change before sale is pretty hefty here. For Seattle condos, we've had higher inventory here for a little while, but 3.7 months is still quite a bit. We have 205 pendings. We are down 19% for median closed sales price year-over-year at $557,000. Sold above list price is pretty slim, and price change before sale is pretty robust.

Snohomish County. Again, we are seeing the same themes. Down 7% median closed sales price at $715,000. There is a little bit more activity going above list price here, but our biggest category is price change before sale. Snohomish condos, same sort of situation. Pending sales are relatively on par, down 18% median closed sales price at $470,000. That's a big jump. But 11% above list price.

Those were our stats for the month of January, and then also a little bit about what I've been seeing in the market. If you're thinking of buying or selling in 2026, now is the time to start making a game plan if you haven't already. Homes still need to be prepped well and priced well, but I'm excited to see what happens for the remainder of this spring and then for this year as a whole. The market shift is definitely being felt already, and I'm excited to see what comes next.

If you're wanting any full reports, what we went over today, or more specific to a city or smaller geographical area, reach out and I'd be happy to share it with you. Whether it's one of these statistics reports or just what I've been seeing in that area from talking to other agents and working with different buyers.

My name is Bella Chaffey Lakic. I've been a realtor in the greater Seattle area for the past 7 years. Born and raised in the area. I know the greater Seattle area very well, and I would absolutely love to help you if you're thinking of buying, selling, investing, or relocating. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in the next one.