Where Were Buyers Competing in King County? A Closer Look at July 2026

By Brandice Raybourn | Coldwell Banker Danforth

King County had plenty of buyer competition in July, but once again, it wasn't spread evenly across the county.

Some Seattle neighborhoods were producing substantial above asking sales. Shoreline continued to show competition. Federal Way, Kent and Burien had plenty of buyers competing too.

Meanwhile, several of the Eastside's higher priced markets looked completely different.

I analyzed 1,548 residential sales that closed throughout King County in July 2026 to see where buyers competed, where buyers had more negotiating room and how much the experience changed depending on price, location and housing type.

The differences were significant.

First, What Happened Across King County?

Of the 1,548 July sales in this analysis:

385 sold above asking, 458 sold at asking and 705 sold below asking.

That's about 24.9% above asking, 29.6% at asking and 45.5% below asking.

The median cumulative market time across all July sales was 13 days.

So almost half of the analyzed sales ultimately closed below asking.

But that's not necessarily what a buyer would have experienced everywhere.

Under $700,000, Competition Extended Well Beyond Seattle

There were 392 sales under $700,000 in July.

Of those, 113 sold above asking, or 28.8%.

Another 142 sold at asking and 137 sold below.

Several South King County markets stand out in this price range.

The Federal Way area had 18 sales under $700,000. Six sold above asking, five at asking and seven below.

The broader Kent area had 19 sales. Five sold above, six at asking and eight below.

In the Lake Meridian area of Kent, three of six sales sold above asking.

The SeaTac area had six sales and four sold above asking. Another sold at asking and only one sold below.

And in Burien, three of six sales sold above asking.

So the lower price competition wasn't centered on Seattle.

Buyers throughout South King County were participating too.

Seattle Could Look Completely Different From One Neighborhood to the Next

The Highland Park area of Seattle had seven sales under $700,000.

Four sold above asking and three sold at asking.

None sold below.

Meanwhile, the Central Area of Seattle had six sales in this price range and none sold above asking. Five sold below.

Same city. Same general price range.

Very different results.

The Beacon Hill area of Seattle had six sales under $700,000, with two above asking, one at asking and three below.

One sale in the North Beacon Hill area of Seattle finished $75,000 above asking.

This is exactly why I don't think “the Seattle market” is specific enough to tell a buyer what they're walking into.

Between $700,000 and $1.05 Million, Shoreline Really Stood Out

There were 424 sales between $700,000 and $1.05 million.

Of those, 114 sold above asking, or 26.9%.

Another 144 sold at asking and 166 sold below.

But look at Shoreline.

The broader Shoreline area had six sales in this price range.

Five sold above asking.

The largest of those finished $109,775 above asking.

That is a completely different experience from the countywide 26.9% above asking rate for this price range.

And Shoreline wasn't alone.

The Highland Park area of Seattle had four sales in this range and three sold above asking.

The Fairwood area of Renton had seven sales. Four sold above asking, one at asking and two below.

One of those Fairwood sales finished $66,050 above asking.

Seattle Had Some Big Competitive Sales in This Price Range

The Central Area of Seattle had four sales between $700,000 and $1.05 million.

Two sold above asking, including one that finished $133,550 over asking.

The Greenwood area of Seattle had seven sales. Three sold above asking, and one finished $100,000 over asking.

The Ballard area of Seattle had eight sales.

Two sold above asking.

One of them finished $145,000 above asking.

And in the Ravenna area of Seattle, two of four sales finished above asking.

These aren't huge neighborhood samples, but together they show just how much variation was hiding underneath the King County average.

Other Seattle Neighborhoods Were Much Quieter

This is where July gets especially useful.

The Wallingford area of Seattle had seven sales between $700,000 and $1.05 million.

None sold above asking.

Four sold at asking and three below.

The Columbia City area of Seattle had five sales.

None sold above asking. Three sold at asking and two below.

The Capitol Hill area of Seattle had eight sales in this price range. Only one sold above asking.

So even within Seattle, buyers shopping at essentially the same budget could encounter dramatically different conditions depending on the neighborhood.

From $1.05 Million to $1.35 Million, Broadview Was a Standout

There were 232 sales between $1.05 million and $1.35 million.

Fifty five sold above asking, or 23.7%.

Fifty nine sold at asking and 118 sold below.

The Broadview area of Seattle had four sales in this price range.

Three sold above asking.

The largest difference was $138,000 above asking, and the group's median cumulative market time was only five days.

The Magnolia area of Seattle had four sales, with two above asking.

One finished $101,000 over asking.

And Queen Anne had seven sales in this range. Three sold above asking, including one that finished $220,000 over asking.

Those are substantial competitive outcomes.

But Sammamish Shows Why We Need the Local Detail

The broader Sammamish area had eight sales between $1.05 million and $1.35 million.

Not one sold above asking.

All eight sold below asking.

Meanwhile, the Klahanie area of Sammamish had four sales in the same price range and two sold above asking.

Same broader city.

Same price range.

Very different results.

That is exactly the kind of distinction a countywide statistic cannot show us.

At $1.35 Million and Above, More Than Half Sold Below Asking

There were 500 July sales at $1.35 million and above.

Of those, 103 sold above asking, or 20.6%.

Another 113 sold at asking.

But 284 sold below asking, or 56.8%.

So overall, buyers at the upper end were much more likely to see a home ultimately close below asking than above it.

That did not stop some individual neighborhoods from producing very strong competition.

Capitol Hill and View Ridge Produced Some Big Results

The Capitol Hill area of Seattle had five sales at $1.35 million and above.

Four sold above asking.

The largest finished $210,000 above asking.

The View Ridge area of Seattle also had five sales.

Three sold above asking and two at asking.

None sold below.

One of those View Ridge sales finished $281,000 above asking.

The Phinney Ridge area of Seattle had four sales, with two above and two at asking.

One finished $201,000 above asking.

And in the Gatewood area of Seattle, two of four sold above asking, including one that finished $185,050 over.

So yes, more than half of the county's $1.35 million plus sales finished below asking.

But that absolutely does not mean competition disappeared at the top.

Queen Anne Had Both Competition and Negotiation

The Queen Anne area of Seattle had 16 sales at $1.35 million and above.

Five sold above asking.

Five sold at asking.

Six sold below.

One of the competitive sales finished $270,000 above asking.

That's a really useful example because it shows why even a neighborhood with substantial competition doesn't necessarily have one dominant outcome.

Buyers could encounter all three.

Bellevue Had Pockets of Competition Inside a Much Softer Citywide Picture

Across all price ranges, Bellevue had 90 analyzed July sales.

Only 10 sold above asking.

Twenty three sold at asking and 57 sold below.

That's a very different citywide pattern from Seattle, where 156 of 495 analyzed sales sold above asking.

But once again, individual Bellevue areas could behave differently.

The Somerset area of Bellevue had seven sales at $1.35 million and above.

Three sold above asking.

One finished $160,000 over asking.

Meanwhile, the Lakemont area of Bellevue had five sales in this price range and none sold above asking.

Four sold below.

The Microsoft area of Bellevue also had five sales. None sold above asking and four sold below.

Same city. Completely different pockets of activity.

The Eastside Differences Were Hard to Ignore

July's citywide numbers are pretty interesting on their own.

Among cities with meaningful numbers of transactions:

Bellevue had 90 sales and 10 sold above asking, or 11.1%.

Redmond had 59 sales and six above asking, or 10.2%.

Sammamish had 56 sales and only four above asking, or 7.1%.

Kirkland had 69 sales and 12 above asking, or 17.4%.

And Bothell had 20 King County sales in this analysis with only one selling above asking.

Compare that with:

Seattle: 31.5% above asking

Shoreline: 29.7%

Kent: 31.0%

Federal Way: 34.4%

Burien: 36.4%

Those numbers don't mean one market was “better” than another.

They show that a buyer's likelihood of encountering above asking sales varied tremendously depending on where they were shopping.

Some Eastside Neighborhoods Still Generated Competition

Even with those lower citywide above asking percentages, there were plenty of exceptions.

The Rose Hill area of Kirkland had seven sales at $1.35 million and above. Two sold above asking.

The Woodinville area had five, with two above asking. One finished $125,000 over.

The North End of Mercer Island had six sales. Two sold above asking, including one that finished $165,000 over.

And the Redmond area had an individual sale finish $205,000 above asking.

Again, citywide percentages are context.

They aren't a substitute for looking at the actual property and its immediate competition.

Housing Type Changed the Picture Again

There were 1,343 residential resale sales in July.

Of those, 354 sold above asking, or 26.4%.

Another 363 sold at asking and 626 sold below.

Townhouses behaved very differently.

Among 115 townhouse sales, only 17 sold above asking, or 14.8%.

Fifty three sold at asking and 45 sold below.

New construction was even more concentrated around the asking price.

Among 134 new construction sales, 19 sold above asking, 70 sold at asking and 45 sold below.

The median cumulative market time was also very different.

Residential resale had a median of 12 days.

Townhouses had a median of 26 days.

New construction had a median of 34.5 days.

So two buyers with the same budget in the same county could still be shopping in very different markets simply because one was looking for resale and the other was looking at new construction.

Explore the July 2026 King County Sales

The interactive map below contains the 1,548 King County sales included in this July analysis.

Start with Where Buyers Competed to see where homes sold above asking and whether the difference was under 5%, between 5% and 9.9%, or at least 10%.

Switch to Where Buyers Negotiated to explore below asking sales, or How Quickly Homes Sold to look at cumulative market time.

You can also narrow everything by price range and housing type.

Locations are generalized to the neighborhood or area level rather than exact property addresses.