Half market, half menu. Every Friday I send you the Seattle and Eastside numbers in plain English, a listing worth a second look, and one food or coffee spot I'd vouch for. Four minutes, then back to your day.
Fall is when you live here
SEATTLE INSIDERSeptember 18, 2026Last week I wrote that the city is the amenity. This week I keep thinking about seasons. Summer is the easy version of Seattle to sell. Long evenings. The lake. Ferries. Mountains. Everyone understands the assignment. Fall is different. Fall asks you to actually live here. Football comes back. The neighborhood coffee shop matters again. The calendar gets a little stranger and a little more local. You start choosing a part of the city for the morning instead of simply chasing the sun. I've been putting out a lot of fall content this week because I don't want autumn to feel like the end of Seattle's good season. I think it might be the beginning of the best one. Summer sells Seattle.
Fall is when you live here.
Let's get into it. WHAT I'M WATCHINGThe fall market. Houses and condos are not in the same market right now, and treating Seattle as one headline misses what is actually happening. The median Seattle house that closed over the last 30 days spent a median 17 days on market and sold at 100 percent of its final asking price. Condos look very different. The median Seattle condo that closed over the same period spent a median 51 days on market. At the current pace of closings, active condo inventory represents more than eight months of supply. Single-family homes are under four. Same city. Very different amount of breathing room. If you're buying a condo this fall, you have something buyers have in meaningful supply right now: time to compare buildings, understand the HOA, read the resale certificate and decide what the home is actually worth to you. If you're selling one, the market is giving buyers plenty to compare you against. Pricing and presentation matter accordingly. That's the market I'm watching heading into fall. Source: NWMLS listing data via Tideline. Seattle single-family and condominium closings from August 18 through September 17, 2026, and active listings as of September 17. Public safety. Mayor Katie Wilson released a new gun violence plan Tuesday that reorganizes the city's violence-intervention work under CARE and adds policing, youth and mental-health initiatives. Separately, City Council approved a resolution calling for a two-year partnership with the National Network for Safe Communities and its focused-deterrence approach. I shared my own take on LinkedIn, so I'll leave the longer conversation there. THE BUILDING IS HALF THE STORYMost weeks the first question about a home is price per foot. These three start somewhere else. The Church THE SANCTUARY1845 16th Avenue, Capitol Hill Listing courtesy of Moira E Holley, Realogics Sotheby's International Realty. The High School QUEEN ANNE HIGH SCHOOL201 Galer Street #414, Queen Anne Listing courtesy of Doug Walker, John L. Scott, Inc. The Hotel FOUR SEASONS PRIVATE RESIDENCES99 Union Street #1703, Downtown Seattle The opposite end of the spectrum. A wraparound terrace, a living room ringed by Elliott Bay and the Olympics, a private interior elevator, seven parking spaces and the Four Seasons service downstairs. Nobody had to adapt this one. It was built in 2008 as exactly what it is. Listing courtesy of Mary P. Snyder, Compass.
ONE TABLEOXBOW, MONTLAKEThis is one I actually know. Oxbow is the kind of place that gives you an excuse to make a morning out of Montlake. Go with friends. Take the family. Get a coffee and a pastry, and then do what I almost always end up doing at a bakery like this: leave with a fresh loaf of bread you had no intention of buying when you walked in. It isn't complicated. That's why I like it. And since you're already in Montlake, coffee doesn't have to be the destination. Walk it off in the Arboretum. Let it be the beginning of the morning. Oxbow 2307 24th Avenue East IF I HAD ONE FREE SATURDAYTHE CITY DAYStart at Westlake Park. WALKDONTRUN starts at 11 and turns more than 20 blocks of sidewalks, parks and plazas between Westlake Park and Occidental Square into a free route of art, music and performance, with more than 200 artists along the way. Walk south. When you hit the waterfront, turn toward Piers 58 and 62. The 34th Salmon Homecoming runs from 10 to 8 with a Native vendor market, a canoe landing at noon, salmon plates, a weaving workshop and cultural sharing on Pier 58 into the evening. Also free. That's a Seattle Saturday I would actually do. No checklist. Just walk. THE GAME DAYOxbow in the morning. Then Husky Stadium. Washington hosts Eastern Washington at 4:15. Coffee, pastry, Montlake, football. I don't need to improve on that. THE EASTSIDE DAYStart at Bellevue City Hall. Experience Bellevue runs from 10 to 4 with live music and dance on the plaza, food vendors, workshops, a KidsQuest fun zone and guided tours of the city. Free. Then take the afternoon into BelRed. The BelRed Arts Night Market runs 4 to 10 at the BelRed light rail station with live music, cultural performances, an art installation, local creatives and food trucks. Free. Bellevue is giving you the whole day. SAVE THIS WEEKENDWe put together the visual version of this weekend on Instagram too. That's the one to save to your phone and send to the person who texts you Saturday morning: "What should we do today?" HELP ME BUILD THE INSIDER LISTWhat's your perfect fall morning in Seattle? Coffee shop. Bakery. Walk. Park. Farmers market. Neighborhood. Whatever it is, give me the first three stops. I'm collecting your answers and building them into the Insider List. Hit reply and send me yours. Talk soon, Jeff QUICK LINKSThinking about buying or selling in the next year? https://jeffreynolds.realscout.com/onboarding Curious what your home is actually worth? https://jeffreynolds.realscout.com/whats-my-home-worth Want to browse the market the way I see it? https://jeffreynolds.realscout.com/ For the day-to-day Seattle stuff: https://www.instagram.com/urbancondospaces/ |
Jeff Reynolds
Half market, half menu. Every Friday I send you the Seattle and Eastside numbers in plain English, a listing worth a second look, and one food or coffee spot I'd vouch for. Four minutes, then back to your day.
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