More Homes are for Sale, but Seattle Market is Not in Free Fall
Seattle-area homebuyers have more options this spring than they have had in years, but the growing number of listings does not appear to signal a housing market collapse.
The Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported 18,563 active listings across its service area at the end of April, up 28.4% from April 2025. New listings also increased, with brokers adding 12,155 listings during the month, up 12% from a year earlier.
Sales, however, have not kept pace.
Closed sales fell 3.7% year over year, with 5,674 transactions in April compared with 5,887 during the same month last year.
For buyers, that means more room to look around, compare homes and negotiate. For sellers, it means the market is no longer as forgiving as it was during the tightest stretch of the pandemic-era boom, when limited inventory helped drive bidding wars and rapid price growth.
Even so, the broader market has not seen a dramatic price drop. NWMLS reported a median sales price of $650,000 for residential homes and condominiums in April, unchanged from a year earlier and up 1.6% from March. King County remained one of the region’s most expensive counties, with a median sales price of $859,000, followed by Snohomish County at $750,000.
The region also remains short of what is generally considered a balanced market. NWMLS reported 3.27 months of inventory in April. Most industry experts consider four to six months of inventory balanced, according to the listing service.
Windermere Economics described the April market as quieter than last spring, with more sellers than buyers entering the market. Across NWMLS, Windermere reported fewer closed sales than a year earlier, while pending sales, new listings and active listings all increased. In the four-county greater Seattle area, active listings were up 37% year over year.
That kind of market can feel very different depending on whether someone is buying, selling or simply watching home values. More inventory can give buyers leverage. It can also make sellers nervous, especially if their homes take longer to sell or draw fewer offers than expected.
But a cooler market is not the same as a crashing one.
A housing bubble collapse usually involves deeper distress, including a large oversupply of homes, widespread forced selling or a credit environment that leaves many borrowers unable to sustain their loans. Current data does not point to those conditions on a broad scale.
National foreclosure activity has risen, but remains below housing-crisis levels. ATTOM reported 42,430 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in April, up 18% from a year earlier but down 8% from March. Foreclosure starts and completed foreclosures also increased year over year, though ATTOM said overall foreclosure activity remains significantly below pre-pandemic levels.
Lending conditions also look different from the years leading up to the 2008 crash. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage
credit availability decreased in April, with its Mortgage Credit Availability Index falling 0.4% to 107.9. A decline in the index indicates tighter lending standards, and MBA said overall credit availability remains tight by historical standards.
The result is a more selective housing market. Buyers have more choices, but affordability remains a major obstacle. Higher mortgage rates continue to limit purchasing power, even when prices flatten or sellers become more willing to negotiate.
Sellers, meanwhile, may need to adjust to a market where pricing strategy
matters again. Windermere Economics noted that well-presented and appropriately priced homes are still seeing competition, while other homes are lingering longer or selling at or below list price.
For now, Seattle’s housing market appears to be cooling from an overheated period, not bursting from a speculative bubble. Buyers have more options, sellers face more competition and some homes are taking longer to sell. But prices remain high, inventory is still below balanced-market levels and demand has not disappeared.
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Real Estate Investment Fraud Sends Former Broker to Prison
Staff Report
Aformer Seattle-area real estate broker has been sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison after prosecutors said she helped drain a real estate investment fund that victims believed would support property projects and retirement savings.
Tamara King, also known as Tamara Waln, 56, of Toledo, Ohio, was sentenced May 15 in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 55 months in prison. King, who previously lived in Bellevue and Kirkland, was convicted in December 2025 after an eightday jury trial on 14 federal felony counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and filing false tax returns.
The case is a cautionary reminder for real estate investors: the promise of high returns can carry serious risk, especially when investment funds are controlled by people with limited transparency or oversight.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, the case centered on a real estate investment fund called Halcyon. Between August 2009 and December 2013, King’s now ex-husband and co-conspirator Paul Waln solicited investments in the fund. Twenty-two victims, most of them Seattle residents, invested $2.25 million.
Investors were told their money would be pooled to purchase and
West Seattle, then used for other real estate projects. They were required to leave their money in the fund for 10 years. Prosecutors said Waln told investors they would receive their principal and earnings at the end of that period, with estimated returns of 20 percent annually.
In 2013, Waln married King, who was also a real estate agent. Prosecutors said the couple jointly managed the fund and, between 2014 and 2018, conspired to misappropriate investor money for personal expenses.
According to records filed in the case, the couple secretly transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time from the fund to their management company, then moved money into King’s personal accounts. Prosecutors said much of the money went to luxury purchases rather than real estate investments.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said King financed an early edition Tesla Model X with custom pink trim for $121,950, bought an 8.5-carat diamond ring for $49,300, used $189,775 to pay a personal tax debt and employed a personal assistant.
When the 10-year investment period ended in 2019, prosecutors said King informed investors that the money was gone and the investment had failed. Remaining investors lost their entire investments.
At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez said King refused to accept responsibility and testified falsely at trial. According to the U.S. Attorney’s
as the “primary instigator” of the fraud and said the motivation was “pure greed.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd said King stole from people who had invested “their dreams of a secure retirement.” FBI Seattle Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Herrington said investors believed they were prudently saving for retirement through a real estate fund, while King drained the account to support her lifestyle.
Victims told the court the fraud forced some to delay retirement, worry about care costs for disabled spouses and feel ashamed after being deceived. One victim statement cited by prosecutors said King used stolen money for cosmetic procedures, a luxury car, credit card bills and a larger home while investors lost savings.
King was also convicted of tax fraud. Prosecutors said she failed to report more than $1.6 million in income over three tax years. During that period, she reported $188,116 in total income despite receiving $1.85 million. The tax loss to the United States was calculated at $551,758. Waln pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in June 2025 and was sentenced to 33 months in prison in October. King will serve three years of supervised release following her prison sentence. A hearing on restitution and forfeiture of assets is scheduled for July 24. The case was investigated by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western
