Seattle Condo Sellers: The Median Just Fell 15.5% to $465K

The King County condo median dropped 15.5% in October 2026 to $465,000, per the Northwest MLS. Single-family homes in the county fell 7.2% to a $925,000 median, and the overall county median fell 4.1% to $851,250. Condos took the biggest hit of the three.

These numbers are King County-wide, not a Seattle city-only figure, and that distinction matters. Belltown, Capitol Hill and Queen Anne each trade differently depending on building age, view, and parking. A tower built in the last ten years with low HOA dues holds value better than an older walk-up with a pending roof assessment.

I pulled the Seattle high-rise condo market report for my own listings this week, and the pattern holds downtown: fewer offers, longer days on market, and buyers who ask for a price reduction before they ask for a showing. That is the market you are pricing into right now.

The honest limitation here: the Northwest MLS figures above are county-level. Your building's actual trend could run better or worse than the county number, and the only way to know is to pull closed comps from your own building and the two or three closest comparable buildings in the last 90 days.

Condos now carry 7.0 months of supply countywide, per the Northwest MLS. A balanced market for condos is commonly closer to 4 to 6 months, so 7.0 tips the scale toward buyers. More inventory means more competition for your listing, and buyers have the leverage to ask for concessions instead of waving contingencies.

In practice, this shows up as softer offers rather than no offers. I am still writing contracts in Belltown this fall, but the buyers are patient and comparing three or four units before they commit to one. If your building has five or six active listings right now, your unit is competing directly with all of them on price, condition and HOA cost.

What I tell sellers: pull the active listing count in your building and your immediate comp set before you set a price. If there are eight units for sale in a 120-unit building, you are in a buyer's market inside your own walls, regardless of what the county median says. That number is worth checking with your agent or on the Seattle condo listing agent page before you commit to a list price.

Verify your building's specific supply with a licensed agent pulling live Northwest MLS data, not a general online estimate. Automated online estimates and national listing portals rarely account for a building's HOA health or a pending special assessment, and both move price more than square footage does in a condo sale.

List before Thanksgiving if you need to sell in the next 90 days. Serious buyers do not disappear in November; casual lookers do. Waiting until January means competing with the usual spring inventory surge while carrying more months of HOA dues, mortgage payment and opportunity cost on a falling median.

I have closed condo sales across the Eastside and Seattle in the week before Thanksgiving more than once, and the buyers who show up that week are motivated. They have a timeline, often tied to a job relocation or a lease ending January 1. Fewer competing listings means your condo gets more attention per buyer who walks in.

The case for waiting is real but narrow: if your unit needs cosmetic work, if there is an unresolved HOA assessment vote pending, or if you are not ready to accept a credit-based offer, use the next few weeks to prepare rather than rushing to list. A condo that shows poorly in a buyer's market sits, and days on market become the next negotiating point against you.

My rule of thumb for clients this time of year: if you can be ready to list within two weeks and your HOA documents are current, list now. If you need six weeks to fix something structural, use that time, then launch with a price anchored to the freshest comps, not the comps from summer.

Price to closed sales in your building and comparable buildings from the last 90 days, not to last spring's numbers or the county median. In a falling market, pricing to outdated comps guarantees a stale listing. Pull every closed sale in your building this year, weight the most recent ones heaviest, and price at or just below that line.

Here is a worked example. Say a two-bedroom unit in a Belltown building closed in August for $520,000, and a similar unit in the same building closed in late October for $480,000 after a credit for a special assessment, for example a hypothetical scenario I use to walk clients through pricing logic. The trend between those two sales tells you more than either number alone: price is still moving down, and the gap is roughly $40,000 over two months.

If your unit is comparable in size and condition, you price closer to the October comp, not the August one, and you build in room for a buyer to ask for a credit. In my experience, pricing above the most recent closed sale in a market like this usually forces a price reduction rather than producing an offer.

Before you set your number, confirm your building's resale history and any pending litigation or assessment with the HOA directly, and run your own home's value with a licensed agent rather than a generic online tool. You can start that conversation through Seattle home value to see what your specific unit and building are producing in closed sales right now.

Buyers in this market commonly ask for closing cost credits, rate buydown contributions, and credits tied to deferred maintenance or an upcoming special assessment. Bidding wars are rare in condos right now; negotiated credits are the norm. Sellers who plan for a credit instead of fighting it close faster and with less drama.

In my recent condo transactions, the most common ask is a credit toward a rate buydown, not a straight price cut. Buyers would rather keep the purchase price intact and use seller money to lower their monthly payment, especially with financing costs still a factor for many buyers this fall. That structure can work in your favor if you need a certain net number for tax or loan payoff reasons.

The second most common ask: a credit for anything flagged in inspection, from an aging water heater to a known HOA reserve shortfall. Get ahead of this by ordering a pre-listing inspection if your building is older, and have your HOA resale certificate ready before you go live. A buyer who sees documentation upfront negotiates less aggressively than one who finds a surprise mid-escrow.

Expect buyers to negotiate harder on condos with higher HOA dues relative to the purchase price. If your dues are above what is typical for comparable buildings in your neighborhood, build a modest credit into your pricing strategy from day one rather than defending the number after an offer comes in.

HOA dues and any pending or recent special assessment directly affect what a buyer will pay and whether their lender will approve the loan at all. High dues reduce a buyer's purchasing power the same way a higher interest rate would. A pending assessment can delay or kill financing entirely if it is not disclosed and resolved before closing.

I have seen deals slow down in escrow because the HOA resale certificate revealed a reserve study showing an underfunded reserve account. Lenders scrutinize this closely on condo loans, more than they do on single-family financing. If your building has a known assessment coming, get the amount and timeline from your HOA board in writing before you list, and decide whether to pay it off, credit the buyer, or disclose it as pending.

Order your HOA resale certificate and reserve study as early as possible, even before you set a list price. This document answers questions buyers and lenders will ask anyway, and having it ready removes a common stall point in condo transactions right now. Confirm the exact process and cost with your HOA management company, since it varies by building.

If you are unsure whether your building's dues or reserve position will work against you in this market, that is worth a direct conversation with an agent who closes condos in your building type before you set a price or a timeline.