32. What is a buyer's market versus a seller's market?

Short answer: It comes down to months of supply: how long it would take to sell every home on the market at the current pace of sales. Under 4 months favors sellers, 4 to 6 months is balanced, and over 6 favors buyers. Puget Sound is closer to balanced than it has been in more than a decade, though most counties still lean slightly to sellers.

How to read it: months of supply is active listings divided by monthly sales. When it rises, buyers get more choice and more time, and sellers have to compete on price, condition and concessions. When it falls, the reverse happens.

U.S. figures are August 2026 (Census, NAR). Local figures are September 2026 (NWMLS; Seattle from Urban Living, excluding condos).

How fast it has moved: a year ago King County had 3.2 months of supply and Snohomish 2.4. Across the NWMLS region, supply rose from 3.3 months to 4.4, and inventory is the highest since 2014.

Why new homes run higher: builders count homes still under construction, and even some not yet started, as inventory. Builders also keep building when existing owners with low-rate mortgages stay put, so new-home supply usually sits well above resale supply.

What it means now:

• Buyers have room to negotiate on price, inspections and rate buydowns, especially for King County condos and on the Eastside.

• Sellers need to price to today’s market, not last year’s comps. Overpriced listings sit.

• Kitsap and Pierce are still tight, so well-priced homes there can sell quickly.

  
  

Where Puget Sound is headed: prices follow supply with a lag, so rising months of supply usually means slower price growth six to twelve months later. With King County balanced and the rest of the region close behind, I expect flat prices through the first half of 2027 rather than declines.