King County Home Prices Grew $100K In A Single Year

Setting a new record for King County, home prices in the region grew $100K in just a year, according to new data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Countywide, the new median price is $658K, a full $103K more than numbers recorded last July.

Median prices in Seattle ($749K) and the Eastside ($860K) dropped slightly from June’s record highs, but both were still up about 15% from a year prior. West Seattle, Sodo/Beacon Hill, Central Seattle/Capitol Hill, Shoreline, East Bellevue and Redmond all saw prices soar 20%, and West Bellevue home prices experienced an increase of 41% to a new median price of $2.3M.

Prices in Downtown Seattle, a hub for condos, dropped marginally from a year ago. Enumclaw was the only city in the county where single-family-home prices decreased.

Outside of King County, Pierce and Kitsap counties dipped compared with last month’s record prices, but they still were up from a year ago. Pierce’s median price is now $312K, up 9.6% from a year ago, while Kitsap reached $322K, an 11% boost up from this past year.

The rising prices can be attributed to growing population paired with declining inventory. The number of homes for sale across King County dropped 18% from a year ago and is at the lowest point on record for this time of year, the Seattle Times reports.

Though prospects are bleak for buyers looking to invest in a traditional single-family home, condos have become a reasonable alternative. Condos across King County cost a median 5.7% more than a year ago, the second-slowest growth in the past two years.