SEATTLE — As more for-sale signs sprouted in front yards this summer, homes across the region sat on the market awaiting home-shoppers willing to make a leap despite high prices and stubborn mortgage rates.

At current demand, it would take more than three months to sell all the single-family homes listed in King County, according to a measure known as months of inventory released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service on Tuesday.

And it’s more than just a typical seasonal slowdown in the market: That's the largest amount of supply here in at least a decade.

This should be welcome news for home shoppers as the market inches toward what's considered more balanced — four to six months of inventory. But for sellers, the market feels slow. And would-be buyers may stay on the sidelines.

Although homes are coming to market, buyers are just not as ready," said RE/MAX agent John Short.

July usually marks a summer slowdown in the local real estate market, but more homeowners around the region listed their properties for sale last month than during the same month last year. Some of those sellers may be struggling to find buyers, though. Pending sales declined across the region.

Challenges persist for home shoppers. Mortgage rates aren’t budging, averaging 6.5% throughout July. Local tech giants continue to shed jobs even as they beat Wall Street expectations. And even as home prices dip in some areas, the cost to buy remains unattainable for many in the Puget Sound.

The median King County home sold for $995,000, essentially flat from a year earlier. Median prices hit about $757,000 in Snohomish County, down 6%; $590,000 in Pierce County, up 2%; and $595,000 in Kitsap County, down 1%.

Even as the market is broadly slow, local brokers report a strange dynamic in which some homes linger unsold for weeks while others draw bidding wars.

Housing markets all over the country are recording slowdowns, but the Seattle area stands out.

July prices across the metro dipped roughly 3% year over year, the second steepest drop behind San Jose, Calif., Redfin reported. Pending sales dropped 14%, second only to a 15% drop in Houston.

The number of homes lingering on the market soared here. In June, the Seattle area recorded the biggest annual jump in inventory relative to demand among 47 metro areas the brokerage RE/MAX tracks. (RE/MAX includes Seattle, Tacoma and Bellevue in the Seattle metro area.)

Even so, Seattle remained the nation’s fourth-most expensive housing market.

With high prices and high rates, "many buyers are choosing to wait rather than stretch their budgets," said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather.

"Seattle is also seeing more homebuyers leave than move in as tech hiring remains well below its pandemic peak. The silver lining is that buyers who are ready to move have more negotiating power than they've had in years," Fairweather said.

Buyers remain 'wary'

Single-family home listings climbed and sales dropped in almost all areas of King County in July according to NWMLS data. Seattle and the Eastside both recorded declines in pending sales between 16% and 17% from a year earlier. Countywide, pending sales dipped 11%.

A glut of condos are also looking for buyers, part of a yearslong slowdown in the local condo market. It would take nearly six months to sell out the available condo inventory in King County.

Across the market, buyers remain "wary," Short said.

Especially among tech workers, "even the employees who have made it through the layoff process are still on guard for what can come in the future.

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