SEATTLE INSIDER

Friday, October 30, 2026

Halloween weekend is here, and if you have kids, you probably already know what your weekend looks like.

Yesterday, I shared a post on Instagram highlighting 10 places to celebrate Halloween throughout Seattle and the Eastside. There's no shortage of ways to get out and enjoy the weekend, whether you're celebrating with your family, getting together with friends, or simply looking for a little Halloween fun.

But for our family, Halloween has become something of a tradition.

For 25 years, we've been getting together with some of the same friends. And for years, one of our favorite Halloween rituals has been Treat Street in Montlake.

It's something our kids absolutely love.

Montlake has always held a special place in my heart. It's a neighborhood where we went to school, where we once lived, and where we've made countless memories over the years.

Now we get to bring our kids back and watch them experience some of that same magic.

I love that.

And it got me thinking about something.

We spend so much time talking about what makes a neighborhood desirable. The homes, the architecture, the schools, the restaurants, the walkability.

But what really makes a neighborhood feel like home?

I think it's the traditions we build there.

The friends we see every year. The familiar streets. The local businesses we come back to. The experiences our kids begin to associate with growing up in Seattle.

Last week, I told you about "Jammies and Scones," my Saturday morning tradition with my daughter.

This week, it's Halloween in Montlake.

Different traditions, but the same idea.

The best part of living somewhere isn't always the home itself. Sometimes it's everything that happens outside the front door.

And this week, there's a lot happening around Seattle and the Eastside.

Let's get into it.

THE PLACES WE COME BACK TO

Speaking of neighborhood traditions, there's a Seattle story this week that caught my attention.

Mì La Cay, the longtime Chinese-Vietnamese noodle restaurant in Little Saigon, announced that October 29 would be its final day after 34 years serving Seattle.

One detail from the farewell particularly stood out to me.

The owners, a brother and sister, reflected on the generations of families who came through their doors over those 34 years.

That's extraordinary when you think about it.

A restaurant becomes part of a family's history.

It's another reminder that our favorite neighborhood places aren't necessarily the fanciest or the newest.

Sometimes they're simply the places we've been coming back to for years.

And that's something worth appreciating while we still have them.

MARKET FROM THE STREET

The houses didn't get the fall memo

Last week the condo buyers showed up. This week the houses stole the story back.

Seattle houses sit at 3.2 months of supply this morning, down from 3.6 last Friday and the tightest reading since I started tracking houses and condos separately in September. More houses closed in the past 30 days than in any week since that tracking began. Late October is supposed to be when this market gets sleepy. The house side didn't get the memo.

And here's the part that gets me: this tightening is happening while Freddie Mac reports a 7.24 percent average 30-year fixed mortgage rate. That's hardly cheap borrowing, yet the market for houses is holding up.

Condos moved the other way, edging back up to 8.5 months of supply as the closing pace cooled from last week's jump. One good week of buyers was never going to clear an overhang that size. But underneath that number, the quieter story kept going: there are fewer condos for sale in Seattle this morning than at any point since I started tracking the split. Fewer selling this week, yes. But fewer sitting, too.

So what does it mean? If you own a house, your market never really loosened, whatever you've heard about fall slowdowns. If you're shopping for a condo, your leverage is intact. Just know the selection is quietly thinning while you wait.

Source: NWMLS listing data via Tideline, pulled the morning of October 30, 2026. Seattle single family and condominium closings from September 30 through October 30, and active listings as of the pull. Months of supply is active listings divided by the trailing 30 day closing pace. Mortgage rate from Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, October 29, 2026.

HOMES WORTH WALKING THROUGH

Three homes that know exactly where they are
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SUNSET HILL | THE EVENING SHOW IS INCLUDED

​7216 34th Avenue NW, Seattle​
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$1,349,900 | 4 bed | 2 bath | 2,920 sq ft | Built 1926 | MLS 2596838

A west-facing 1926 craftsman on a corner lot where the living room windows frame the Olympics and Puget Sound. The hardwoods are restored, the cove ceilings and archways are intact, and the covered porch off the dining room points straight at the sunset. The neighborhood is named for exactly what this house does best.

Listing courtesy of Devon Schwaab, Windermere Real Estate GH LLC.

CAPITOL HILL | THE ONE I ALMOST BOUGHT

​812 E Blaine Street, Seattle​
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$1,749,000 | 3 bed | 2 bath | 1,900 sq ft | Built 2012 | MLS 2560027

I looked at buying this home more than ten years ago, and I've thought about it ever since. Designed by Mithun and built by Dovetail on the Blaine Street stairs, with floor-to-ceiling windows that face west over Lake Union, the Space Needle, the skyline, and the Olympics. The remarks call every sunset a private viewing experience, and having stood in that living room, I believe them.

Listing courtesy of Ugur Uysal, Skyline Properties, Inc.

MADISON PARK | THE HOUSE AND GARDEN WERE DRAWN TOGETHER

​2316 42nd Avenue E, Seattle​
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$3,895,000 | 4 bed | 2.5 bath | 4,000 sq ft | Built 2012 | MLS 2593828

Architect Eric Cobb drew the house; Richard Hartlage of Land Morphology drew the landscape, and they composed them as one work. Five outdoor rooms, including a rooftop Zen garden above the garage, a bamboo-walled side yard, and a balcony with a fire pit off a primary suite that owns the entire top floor, Lake Washington views included. Square footage can be replicated. This can't.

Listing courtesy of Hutton Moyer and Elly Guerra, Coldwell Banker Bain.

IF I WERE HOME THIS WEEKEND

Halloween on a Saturday, and an extra hour to recover

SATURDAY MORNING WITH THE KIDS | PUMPKINS, MEET PENGUINS

Before the costumes go on for the night, the zoo runs its own version.

Woodland Park Zoo's Pumpkin Bash is Saturday from 9:30 to 3, the zoo's annual excuse to hand the pumpkins to the animals. It's included with regular zoo admission or membership, costumes are encouraged, and one kid 12 and under gets in free with each paid adult.

​Pumpkin Bash at Woodland Park Zoo​

SATURDAY NIGHT | THE TROLL THROWS ITS OWN PARTY

Once the trick-or-treating winds down, Fremont does the thing only Fremont does.

Trolloween starts at the Fremont Troll, with the crowd gathering by 7 sharp: a staged show and pageant at the Troll, then the Haunt of Fremont, a costumed procession through the neighborhood. Rain or shine, and this is Seattle on October 31, so plan for both.

​Trolloween​

SUNDAY | AN EXTRA HOUR AND A FREE FESTIVAL

Clocks fall back Saturday night, so Sunday arrives with a bonus hour built in.

I'd spend part of it at Seattle Center. The Día de Muertos Festival fills the Armory on Saturday and Sunday from 11 to 6, free and open to the public, with performances running all day.

​Día de Muertos Festival​

And if a festival isn't the move, an extra hour is a decent head start on a drive. My day trips guide has 50 of them, sorted by vibe.

​50 Day Trips from Seattle​

SAVE THIS WEEKEND

The visual version is on Instagram: 10 places to celebrate Halloween around Seattle and the Eastside. That's the one to save to your phone and send to the person who texts you Saturday morning: "What should we do today?"

​The Halloween Edit​

HELP ME BUILD THE INSIDER LIST

What's one neighborhood tradition your family comes back to every year?

A trick-or-treat street. A pancake spot. A tree you visit every December. The walk you take every first warm Saturday.

I'm collecting these for The Insider List, the Seattle worth passing between people who actually live here.

Hit reply and give me one.

Talk soon,

Jeff

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