Dog Days of August Cool Home Sales

Home prices across Washington state held steady in August while sales slowed, underscoring a housing market still grappling with weak buyer demand, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

In August, both active listings and home sales declined compared to July—by 2.7% and 7.7%, respectively—across the 27 counties in the NWMLS coverage area. This slowdown was largely driven by weaker activity in King and Snohomish counties. Compared to the same time last year, listings rose by 30.8%, but sales fell by 5.7%, indicating continued stagnant buyer demand. Median home prices remained flat month-over-month and increased just .8% year-over-year.

Demand remains stagnant, analysts noted, pointing to still-elevated borrowing costs.

Mortgage rates inched down in August, with 30-year fixed loans dropping from 6.72% at the end of July to 6.56% by month’s end. “Pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower its overnight federal funds rate is expected to result in cuts later this year,” said Steven Bourassa, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington. “But it’s unclear whether such cuts will significantly affect long-term mortgage rates.”

August 2025 Key Takeaways

Active Listings

• There was a 30.8% increase in total number of properties listed for sale year-over-year, with 20,219 active listings on the market at the end of August 2025, compared to 15,453 at the end of August 2024. When compared to the previous month, active inventory decreased by 562 listings (-2.7%), down from 20,781 in July 2025.
• The number of homes for sale year-over-year increased throughout the NWMLS coverage area, with 25 out of 27 counties seeing a double-digit year-over-year increase. The six counties with highest year-over-year increases in active inventory for sale were Ferry (+63%), Snohomish (+50.1%), Jefferson (+47.3%), Clallam (+46.3%), Columbia (+45.8%), and Thurston (+38.9%).

Closed Sales

• The number of closed sales decreased by 5.7% year-over-year (6,341 in August 2025 compared to 6,727 in August 2024). When compared to the previous month, the number of closed sales decreased by 7.7%, down from 6,867 sales in July 2025.
• 15 out of 27 counties saw a decrease in the number of closed sales year-over-year, while 9 saw an increase, and 3 showed no change. The six counties with the largest increases were Clallam (+16.3%), Okanogan (+16.1%), Grant (+11.5%), Lewis (+8.3%), Island (+7.9%), and Douglas (+5.1%).

Median Sales Price and Total Dollar Value

• The median sales price for residential homes and condominiums sold in August 2025 was $650,000 — a slight increase of .8% when compared to August 2024 ($645,000). Compared to the previous month, the median price remained unchanged ($650,000 in July 2025).
• The three counties with the highest median sale prices were San Juan ($1,050,000), King ($875,000), and Snohomish ($755,000), and the three counties with the lowest median sale prices were Ferry ($250,000), Columbia ($319,000), and Grays Harbor ($323,500).
• The total dollar value of closed sales in August 2025 for residential homes was $4,669,643,977 and was $495,173,759 for condominiums ($5,164,817,736 in total).

“Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages declined early in the month, from 6.72% at the end of July to 6.63% a week later, but have dropped relatively slowly since then, ending the month at 6.56%,” said Steven Bourassa, Director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington. “Pressure on the Federal Reserve Bank to lower its overnight federal funds rate is expected to result in cuts later this year, but it is unclear that such cuts will lead to significant changes in long-term rates, such as for mortgages.”

Consumer and Broker Activity

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

• Keyboxes located at listed properties were accessed 164,711 times in August 2025, a 2.4% decrease from July 2025 when they were accessed 168,801 times. Keybox activity increased year-over-year by 3.4%, with keyboxes being accessed 159,239 times in August 2024.
• The total number of property showings scheduled through NWMLS-provided software decreased 2.9% from 126,250 in July 2025 to 122,534 in August 2025. This was a year-over-year increase of 2.2% from the number of showings in August 2024 (119,927).

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