Metro Seattle is used to being #1 when it comes to housing. For the past decade or more, the #1 meant the hottest market with the fastest-growing home prices. We’re closing out 2022 at the top of another list, the most rapidly cooling urban area in the U.S.

While home prices in the country fell 0.5% from September to October, Seattle regional prices dropped a full percentage point.

On an annual basis, Seattle area prices were still up according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index. From October 2021 – October 2022 prices were up 4.5%, the smallest increase since Dec. 2019.

The median home sales price is $762,600 in the metro area according to Redfin.

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In an article in Forbes magazine examining the upcoming year in home values, the Seattle cool-down is happening because of layoffs in the tech industry and increasing mortgage rates.

Forbes says, “the Seattle metro area housing market is showing mixed signals of continued strength as well as weakening activity in the cities that comprise the Seattle metro area.”

In the city of Seattle proper, home prices have managed to sustain their year-over-year increase. The median sale price in the Seattle housing market increased by 7.6% year-over-year: From $785,000 in October 2021 to $845,000 in October 2022.

The different towns and cities around Seattle are showing varying outlooks. Forbes analyzed 56 core cities of the Seattle metro area, and 28 of them have witnessed year-over-year declines in home prices, while another 28 have seen year-over-year increases in home prices.

Enumclaw saw the biggest increase growing from $547,000 in October 2021 to $828,000 in October 2022, an increase of 51.4%.

Lake Forest Park, on the other hand, went from $1,009,400 in October 2021, down to $588,500 in October 2022, an annual decrease of 41.7%.

Another gauge of strength in the housing market is the length of time it takes for a home to sell.

In the Seattle metro area as a whole, the median number of days on the market of a home for sale rose from seven days in October 2021 to 21 days in October 2022.

Norada predicts Seattle housing prices are going to rise in 2023. Zillow says that the rate will be 0.5%. Others see a decline coming.

Taking a 30,000-foot view, the Seattle market has had a 9.2% appreciation over the past decade.