Market Update — June 2025
We firmly believe timely and relevant data is key to making good decisions. To this end, we are committed to providing our community and clients with actionable data and insights about the local real estate market.
Local real estate market
With the data from May 2025 in, here’s an overview of the key aspects of the local real estate market. The real estate data below is collected from Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS).
Median price: The chart below shows the latest median sales prices of homes over the past three years in the Greater Seattle area over the past three years:
Homes sold: 6,467 homes were sold in May 2025. The median price of $654,995 which represents a 0.8% decrease YOY. This total sale volume translates to a dollar value of about $5.3B.
New construction: 838 new construction homes were sold in May 2025. The median sale price of new construction homes was $722,429.
Months of inventory: Given the current quantity of supply, it’ll take 2.83 months for every listed home to sell. To put this number in context, note that the months of inventory for a balanced market is considered to be 4 to 6 months. The counties with the lowest months of inventory in May 2025 were Snohomish (1.97), Kitsap (2.01), Thurston (2.12), and Pierce (2.18). This data point indicates the persistent shortage of supply relative to demand in the area.
New listings: 13,129 new listings were added to the NWMLS database in May 2025 representing a increase of 13.5% compared to May 2024.
Mortgage rates: This month the Freddie Mac rate shows no major month-over-month change.
Primary Mortgage Market Survey — Average 30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rates over the past 12 months (Source: Freddie Mac)
Broader U.S. economy
Inflation Update: Key Measure Slightly Higher Than Expected: The latest Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report, a crucial gauge for inflation, showed headline prices rose just 0.1% in May, bringing the annual rate to 2.3%. These figures were mostly in line with forecasts. However, the focus is often on Core PCE. This measure strips out volatile food and energy costs and is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric. Core PCE increased 0.2% in May, coming in slightly above the 0.1% forecast. On an annual basis, Core PCE now stands at 2.7%, just above
the 2.6% expected. A major factor keeping Core PCE elevated remains shelter costs, which make up a significant 18% of the index. While official government data shows slow improvement, real-time market data (like from Zillow and Apartment List) suggests rents are softening faster than the official numbers currently reflect.
Existing Home Sales Remain Sluggish in May: Existing home closings saw a slight increase in May, rising 0.8% from April to an annual rate of 4.03 million units. While this was better than expected, it marked the weakest sales pace for May since 2009. Meanwhile, Pending Home Sales, a key indicator tracking signed contracts on existing homes and forecasting future closings, rose 1.8% month over month in May after a notable drop the previous month.
