Last week we showed you that Seattle is two markets sorted by property type. This week the divergence shows up by geography too. Bellevue's median sale price over the three months ending in May came in at $1.5 million, down 11.3% from the same three month window a year earlier. Seattle citywide softened as well, but only 2.3% over that same period.
This is not a volume story. Bellevue actually sold about the same number of homes this year as last, 398 versus 402. It is a pricing story. The mix of what is selling, and what sellers are willing to accept, has shifted meaningfully on the Eastside in a way it has not in Seattle proper.
Northwest Bellevue alone is down 21.7% over the same window, the steepest pullback we have seen in any Eastside submarket this year. If you bought at the 2024 or early 2025 peak in Bellevue, this is worth understanding before you make your next move.
- Reach out and we'll walk through what this means for your property
- See the full Bellevue numbers on Redfin
- Compare to Seattle proper, neighborhood by neighborhood
Source: Redfin, three months ending May 2026 vs. three months ending May 2025, median sale price
New Fed chair, same old message. Rates climbed back up this week.
30-Yr Fixed (MND) 6.65% June 23, 2026 · up from 6.54% a week ago | Existing Home Sales +3.2% May 2026 · highest pace since December |
Kevin Warsh ran his first Federal Reserve meeting last week as the new Fed chair, and the takeaway for mortgage shoppers was not what the White House was hoping for. The Fed held its benchmark rate steady at 3.50% to 3.75%, but the updated projections flipped from expecting a cut this year to nine of eighteen officials now penciling in a hike by December. Warsh also stripped out the Fed's usual forward guidance language entirely, which means less hand holding from here and more volatility as markets figure out what the Fed is actually thinking meeting to meeting.
The result showed up fast. The 30 year fixed bottomed out at 6.54% on June 16 right after the Iran deal news, then climbed back to 6.65% by June 23 as the hawkish tone sank in. If you were hoping the worst of the rate environment was behind us, this week is a reminder that the path down is not going to be a straight line.
The encouraging counterpoint: existing home sales nationally rose 3.2% in May, the strongest pace since December, even with rates exactly where they are. Buyers are adjusting to the new normal rather than waiting it out. The national median price also hit a fresh record of $429,300. People are not waiting for 5% rates anymore. They are making moves at 6.5%.
The correction is concentrated, not citywide.
Drill into the Eastside and the pattern from The Number gets even sharper. The pullback is not evenly distributed. It is concentrated in the segments that ran hottest in 2024 and early 2025.
Northwest Bellevue Median sale price: $2.0M, down 21.7% YoY Days on market: 14, up from 7 last year Verdict: Sharpest correction on the Eastside | Bellevue Citywide Median sale price: $1.5M, down 11.3% YoY Days on market: 8, up from 5 last year Verdict: Correcting, still competitive |
Bellevue condos are feeling it from a different angle. Area 520, Bellevue west of I-405, was sitting at roughly 9 months of supply earlier this year on the condo side specifically, well into buyer's market territory, while single family inventory on the Eastside overall remains closer to 3 to 4 months. The same property type divergence we flagged last week in Seattle is playing out in Bellevue too, just with higher price tags attached.
There is also a labor story underneath this. Amazon's two rounds of corporate layoffs since October, the most recent of which alone cut roughly 700 jobs based in Bellevue, landed right in the window we are measuring. Software engineering and product roles took the largest share of the cuts. Bellevue's buyer pool leans heavily on exactly that kind of high income, equity comp household, so fewer of them shopping for homes at the same time inventory is rising is a believable piece of why the correction is sharper here than in Seattle proper.
Homes are still moving fast where they are priced right. Bellevue homes are selling in 8 days on average, even with prices down double digits. That tells you this is a repricing, not a freeze. Buyers showed up the moment sellers met the market.
Worth noting: the official NWMLS June numbers will not land until early July, so this week's read leans on Redfin and Zillow data, both of which independently landed on the same Bellevue figure. When two sources agree this closely, we trust the number.
- Browse current Eastside condo listings
- Where Amazon's latest layoffs landed, by role and city
- Check Bellevue's home value trend on Zillow
Source: Redfin and Zillow, three months ending May 2026 vs. three months ending May 2025. Layoff figures via GeekWire and Bloomberg, Washington state WARN filings, January and February 2026
On the ground in King County
We just listed a one bedroom condo at Continental Condominiums in North Bellevue, steps from Bellevue Square. It is the kind of listing that puts this week's Number into real terms. A well located, well priced Eastside condo in this market is not sitting and hoping. It is competing on value, the same way every condo in this price band needs to right now.
That brings us to 7 active listings across Seattle, the Eastside, and South King this week. The Bothell condo we mentioned last week is still pending, which continues to track with what we keep seeing: priced right, it moves. Priced to last year's comps, it sits.
If you are sitting on a Bellevue property and wondering whether the last twelve months changed your numbers, they probably did, and not always in the direction you would assume.
7 active HSG listings this week
Just listed:
- A North Bellevue one bedroom at Continental Condominiums, steps from Bellevue Square, $499,900
The rest of what we're selling:
- A Ballard three bedroom with room to grow, $769,900
- A Bothell four bedroom on 167th, $999,900
- A second Bothell four bedroom, this one on 183rd, $1,069,900
- A West Seattle three bedroom on 18th Ave, $749,900
- A Federal Way four bedroom, priced to move at $649,950
- A West Seattle lot, NR3 zoned, build your own at $99,000
Still watching:
- The Bothell condo that went pending last week, proof that priced right still moves
- Thinking about listing? Let's talk pricing strategy
Bellevue is not breaking down. It is giving back the steepest part of its run up.
An 11% pullback sounds alarming until you remember how far Bellevue ran in 2024 and early 2025, and how much of its buyer pool comes from the same companies that have been trimming headcount since October. Homes are still selling in 8 days. Sellers who priced for today's market, not last year's, are still finding buyers fast.
If you bought near the top, this is not a number to panic over. It is a number to understand so you are not surprised by it later, whether you are refinancing, considering a move, or just keeping tabs on your equity.
If you are buying on the Eastside right now, this is the most negotiating room you have had in years, especially in condos and in the higher price tiers. Know your number before you make an offer.
Seattle just got ranked the best World Cup host city in the country. We believe it.
One week into hosting, Seattle is getting the kind of reviews you cannot buy. The Athletic ranked Seattle Stadium, formerly and forever Lumen Field to locals, the top venue among all host cities in the US, Canada, and Mexico after the USA versus Australia match. Nearly 67,000 fans showed up downtown, and local businesses near the stadium are reporting wild numbers, some pizza shops selling 11 times their normal daily volume on match days.
Two more matches play at Seattle Stadium this week, then the tournament moves into knockout rounds with a Round of 32 match on July 1 and a Round of 16 match on July 6, both at Lumen Field. If the US team advances, expect the second match to be the biggest single day Seattle has seen in years.
The real estate read has not changed from last week, it has just gotten more real. Hundreds of thousands of visitors are spending a week falling for this city right now. Pioneer Square, SODO, and the waterfront corridor are the neighborhoods absorbing the foot traffic today and the ones worth watching over the next year.
Five links worth your time this week
Wondering what your Eastside property is actually worth right now?
If you bought in Bellevue, Kirkland, or anywhere on the Eastside in the last two years, the comps have moved more than you might think. We run this analysis for clients every week. If you want a specific read on your property or a neighborhood you are watching, reach out. No pitch, just data.
Or reach us directly at [email protected]
Henry Shim Group at Windermere Real Estate Midtown
1920 N 34th St, Seattle, WA 98103 | (206) 856-8387
All information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be independently reviewed and verified. Data sourced from NWMLS, Redfin, Zillow, Mortgage News Daily, and other public sources. This newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or legal advice. © 2026 Henry Shim Group. All rights reserved.
