Seattle housing: rates at 7.28%, 3,186 homes for sale, and a proposed $9.1 billion budget

Seattle's median sale price barely moved over the past year, and borrowing got more expensive again this week. Freddie Mac's weekly survey put the average 30-year fixed mortgage at 7.28% for the week ending October 1, up from 7.03% the week before and 6.34% a year earlier. 1 Redfin puts the city's median sale price at $874,421 over the three months ending in August, down 2.8% from the same months in 2025. 2

Those rows sit on four different clocks. The median sale price, the price per square foot, and the sale-to-list ratio average three months of closings. The homes-sold figure counts a single month. Zillow's index tracks the same housing stock month by month. The listing count is a live page read this morning.

Redfin's three-month window ending in August puts Seattle's median sale price at $874,421, down 2.8% from a year earlier, with the price per square foot at $549, down 2.0%. 2 Closings fell faster than prices. Seattle recorded 2,220 home sales in August, against 2,475 in August 2025. 2 The homes that did sell still moved quickly: the median sale took 15 days, two days longer than a year earlier, and the average sale brought 99.6% of the asking price, down 0.39 of a point. Redfin scores the market 79 out of 100 for competition, with homes going under contract in about 19 days. 2

That window closes in August, so the closing figures are about a month behind the current market. Zillow reads the same city differently. Its value index put the typical Seattle home at $833,192 on August 31, down 1.6% over the year, with homes going to pending in about 17 days. 4 The two numbers differ by method. Redfin takes the midpoint of what closed, which follows the mix of houses that sold that month. Zillow estimates the value of the same housing stock each month, so a month heavy in smaller or newly built homes pulls the closing median down without changing what an individual house is worth.

Redfin's Seattle search page listed 3,186 homes for sale, plus 10 early-access listings, when this brief checked it on October 5. The same page showed 3,147 homes plus 11 early-access listings on September 14. 3 The figure is a live snapshot of what a shopper can tour this week. Seattle's public city pages omit a months-of-supply ratio, so the visible count is the closest available read on how much choice a buyer has.

Freddie Mac's survey put the average 30-year fixed mortgage at 7.28% for the week ending October 1, up from 7.03% a week earlier and 6.34% a year earlier. The 15-year average rose to 6.60%, from 6.42% and 5.55%. 1 The 30-year rate has climbed from 6.76% in the week ending September 10, a rise of about half a percentage point in three weeks. 1

On the city's median price of $874,421 with 20% down, a buyer borrows $699,537. At 7.28%, that loan costs about $4,786 a month in principal and interest. A week earlier, at 7.03%, the same loan cost about $4,668, so the week's move added $118. A year ago, at 6.34%, it cost about $4,348, leaving today's buyer paying about $438 more each month for the same house. The figures cover principal and interest only; King County property taxes, homeowners insurance, HOA dues, and mortgage insurance sit outside them. 12

On September 22, Mayor Katie B. Wilson sent the City Council a proposed $9.1 billion budget for 2027, with a General Fund of $2 billion. 5 The plan closes an inherited structural deficit of about $175 million by trimming roughly $50 million a year from General Fund spending and cutting 128 full-time positions, 15 of them filled, while the JumpStart payroll tax holds at its current rate. 5

For housing, the proposal keeps the Office of Housing's $140.2 million share of JumpStart revenue, more than 30% of the 2027 total, and adds a Housing Ombud position to help affordable-housing developers work through permitting. 5 It also funds $183 million in ongoing homelessness work, including $37 million to add nearly 1,000 shelter beds by the end of 2027. 5 The council reviews the proposal over the next two months and usually votes in late November, with a final budget due under state law by early December, so the housing allocations can still change.

Freddie Mac publishes its next rate survey on Thursday. Redfin's September closings will show whether the price decline deepens or levels off, and the council's fall amendments will decide whether the housing funding above holds.