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

By Brandice Raybourn | Coldwell Banker Danforth

By August, King County buyers were generally getting more time and more opportunities to negotiate.

More than half of the sales I analyzed closed below asking. Median cumulative market time reached 26 days. And the share selling above asking dropped to 18.1%.

But that doesn't mean competition disappeared.

Certain Seattle neighborhoods were still producing clusters of above asking sales. Shoreline continued to stand out. And even in higher priced markets where below asking sales were common, individual neighborhoods could look completely different.

I analyzed 1,856 residential sales that closed throughout King County in August 2026 to see where buyers were still competing, where they had more room and how dramatically the experience changed depending on location, price and housing type.

August had plenty of examples.

First, What Happened Across King County?

Of the 1,856 August sales in this analysis:

336 sold above asking, 525 sold at asking and 995 sold below asking.

That's 18.1% above asking, 28.3% at asking and 53.6% below asking.

The overall median cumulative market time was 26 days.

Compare that with July, when 24.9% of the analyzed sales sold above asking and overall median cumulative market time was 13 days.

That's a meaningful month to month change.

But it wasn't happening equally everywhere.

Under $700,000, More Than Half Sold Below Asking

There were 658 sales under $700,000 in August.

Of those, 115 sold above asking, or 17.5%.

Another 207 sold at asking.

336 sold below asking, or 51.1%.

Median cumulative market time reached 34.5 days.

So even at the lower end of the King County market, where we had previously seen substantial competition, buyers were generally encountering a much different environment by August.

But individual areas could still break from that pattern.

Auburn Still Had Plenty of Competition

The broader Auburn area had 21 sales under $700,000.

Eight sold above asking, six at asking and seven below.

One finished $75,000 above asking.

So while only 17.5% of the county's under $700,000 sales went above asking, more than a third of this Auburn group did.

The West Hill area of Auburn had another five sales, with two above asking.

That is useful context for a buyer who might otherwise look at the countywide number and assume competition had mostly disappeared.

South King County Was Very Mixed

The broader Federal Way area had 18 sales under $700,000.

Four sold above asking, six at asking and eight below.

The broader Kent area had 17 sales, with four above, four at asking and nine below.

The East Hill area of Kent had 11 sales. Three sold above asking, three at asking and five below.

And the Enumclaw area had 11 sales, with three above and six below.

So South King County still had competitive sales, but August buyers were also seeing a lot more homes finish below asking.

Seattle Under $700,000 Wasn't One Market Either

The Capitol Hill area of Seattle had nine sales under $700,000.

Three sold above asking and six below.

Meanwhile, the White Center area had four analyzed sales and all four sold below asking.

The First Hill area of Seattle had four sales with none above asking.

The Fremont area also had four, with none above asking.

That doesn't mean those neighborhoods had suddenly become buyer markets across the board.

It shows how different the closed sale results could be, even within Seattle and within the same general budget.

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

There were 521 sales between $700,000 and $1.05 million.

Only 88 sold above asking, or 16.9%.

Another 151 sold at asking and 282 sold below.

But the broader Shoreline area looked very different.

It had six sales in this price range.

Four sold above asking.

The median cumulative market time was only seven days, and the largest above asking difference was $26,000.

That continues a pattern we've now seen in more than one month.

The county can be slowing while an individual local market remains competitive.

Seward Park and Beacon Hill Still Had Buyers Competing

The Seward Park area of Seattle had four sales between $700,000 and $1.05 million.

Three sold above asking.

The Beacon Hill area of Seattle had nine sales. Four sold above asking and five below.

One finished $55,000 above asking.

The Columbia City area of Seattle had six sales, with two above asking, one at asking and three below.

Again, these aren't huge groups.

But they show why I wouldn't tell a Seattle buyer that August was simply a negotiating market.

The answer depended heavily on the neighborhood and property.

Other Areas in the Same Price Range Leaned Heavily Below Asking

Four Northgate area of Seattle sales all finished below asking.

Four sales in the broader Burien area also all sold below asking.

The Eastlake area of Seattle had four, with none above asking and three below.

The broader Bothell area had four sales in this price range, with none above asking and three below. Median cumulative market time was 117 days.

And in the Kennydale area of Renton, three of four sales finished below asking, including one that closed $200,000 below asking.

Same price range.

Completely different buyer experiences.

From $1.05 Million to $1.35 Million, More Than Half Sold Below Asking

There were 241 sales between $1.05 million and $1.35 million.

Fifty eight sold above asking, or 24.1%.

Another 58 sold at asking.

125 sold below asking, or 51.9%.

Interestingly, the above asking percentage was actually higher here than in either of the two lower price ranges.

That's a good reminder that markets don't always soften in a perfectly straight line as prices increase.

Capitol Hill Had Competition in This Range Too

The Capitol Hill area of Seattle had four sales between $1.05 million and $1.35 million.

Two sold above asking and two at asking.

None sold below.

One finished $100,000 above asking.

Compare that with the Wallingford area of Seattle, where none of five analyzed sales went above asking.

Three sold at asking and two below.

The Queen Anne area had four sales with none above asking.

And the Newcastle area had four, with none above and three below.

Again, the county statistic isn't describing one uniform market.

At $1.35 Million and Above, Negotiating Room Was Common

There were 436 sales at $1.35 million and above.

Seventy five sold above asking, or 17.2%.

Another 109 sold at asking.

252 sold below asking, or 57.8%.

So nearly six out of ten sales in this price range finished below asking.

But some Seattle neighborhoods were still producing the exact opposite result.

North Beach and Green Lake Were Striking Exceptions

The North Beach area of Seattle had four sales at $1.35 million and above.

All four sold above asking.

The median cumulative market time was 6.5 days.

The Green Lake area of Seattle had seven sales.

Five sold above asking and two sold at asking.

None sold below.

One finished $310,000 above asking.

That is a dramatically different experience from the overall $1.35 million plus market, where 57.8% sold below asking.

Magnolia Was Still Producing Competition Too

The Magnolia area of Seattle had 12 sales at $1.35 million and above.

Five sold above asking.

Four sold at asking.

Three sold below.

Median cumulative market time was only 3.5 days.

One of the above asking sales finished $155,000 over asking.

The Queen Anne area had nine sales in this range, with three above asking, four at asking and two below.

One finished $110,000 above asking.

So parts of Seattle's higher end were still moving quickly and attracting competition even while the broader King County market was giving buyers substantially more leverage.

The Eastside Had Some of August's Biggest Contrasts

This may be the most interesting geographic story of the month.

Across all price ranges:

Bellevue had 114 sales and 16 sold above asking, or 14.0%.

Kirkland had 122 sales and 14 above asking, or 11.5%.

Redmond had 70 sales and only five above asking, or 7.1%.

Sammamish had 57 sales and seven above asking, or 12.3%.

Woodinville had 23 sales and only one sold above asking.

Meanwhile, Seattle had 641 sales with 130 above asking, or 20.3%.

And Shoreline had 39 sales with 13 above asking, or 33.3%.

Those citywide differences are substantial.

But even the Eastside wasn't uniform.

Somerset Was a Competitive Pocket Inside Bellevue

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

Three sold above asking, one at asking and three below.

One finished $450,000 above asking.

Meanwhile, five sales in the broader Clyde Hill area produced no above asking sales. Four sold below asking.

The Eastgate area of Bellevue had four sales, with one above, two at asking and one below.

So even within the Eastside's softer citywide numbers, individual neighborhoods could still produce competition.

Kirkland Shows the Other Side of August

Four sales in the broader Kirkland area at $1.35 million and above all sold below asking.

Four in North Rose Hill also all sold below asking.

Nine West of Market sales across the broader July data from my last month report, had already shown a mixed picture, and by August the citywide Kirkland numbers leaned heavily toward at or below asking outcomes.

Across all price ranges, 79 of Kirkland's 122 analyzed August sales finished below asking.

That's nearly two thirds.

But even there, individual homes could still behave differently.

This is exactly why I keep coming back to the same point: the city isn't the market for every house inside it.

Housing Type May Be August's Clearest Divider

There were 1,532 residential resale sales in this analysis.

Of those, 310 sold above asking, or 20.2%.

Another 394 sold at asking and 828 sold below.

Median cumulative market time was 22.5 days.

Townhouses looked very different.

Among 194 townhouse sales, only 18 sold above asking, or 9.3%.

Sixty six sold at asking and 110 sold below.

Median cumulative market time was 50.5 days.

New construction was even more striking.

Among 185 new construction sales, only 10 sold above asking, or 5.4%.

Eighty six sold at asking and 89 sold below.

Median cumulative market time was 49 days.

Some properties are both townhouses and new construction, so those two categories overlap and shouldn't be added together.

But the pattern is still very clear.

In August, someone shopping residential resale was encountering a different market from someone shopping townhouses or new construction.

Explore the August 2026 King County Sales

The interactive map below contains the 1,856 King County sales included in this August analysis.

Start with Where Buyers Competed to see which homes sold above asking and how far buyers went over.

Switch to Where Buyers Negotiated to see where homes finished below asking.

Or choose How Quickly Homes Sold to explore cumulative market time.

You can narrow everything by price range and housing type.

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