August was a soft month nationally and locally

The housing market slowed again in August.

Nationally, existing-home sales fell 1.2% year over year. Inventory climbed to a 4.9-month supply, the highest level in more than a decade. The median price was still up 1.6% from last year, but has fallen from its 2026 high.

Mortgage rates have moved higher as the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate earlier this month. The average 30-year fixed rate hit nearly 7.5% this week according to Mortgage News Daily, up from 6.66% just one month ago.

Here in King County:

Closed sales fell 14.2% year over year.
Months of supply held at 3.9, the same as July and the highest level since 2012.
Inventory jumped 28.7% year over year.
The median price fell to $920,000, down 5.6% year over year.

August sales data for King County

NWMLS, single-family homes only (no condos)

What stands out 📌

Closed sales took the biggest hit. They fell 14.2% year over year to 1,454. Higher borrowing costs and more competing listings are making buyers cautious.
More sellers are showing up as buyers pull back. New listings rose 20.6% year over year, while pending sales fell 7.2%.
Prices lost ground. The median price fell to $920,000, down 5.6% from last August.
Homes are taking a little longer to sell. The median was 17 days versus 14 a year ago. That’s still quick by historical standards, but the direction matters.
Months of supply remained at 3.9, matching July and the highest level we’ve seen since 2012.

“First Look” and the Compass settlement

Compass and NWMLS recently settled their long-running legal fight. The most notable result is a new MLS status called First Look.

First Look is very similar to "Coming Soon" listings you may have seen in other markets.

It lets a seller market a home for up to 21 days before moving it to Active status. During that period, the seller can choose whether the home appears on public sites like Zillow and Redfin. It is still visible to all NWMLS brokers, along with its First Look market time and price history. Sellers can also decide whether to allow showings during this period.

The change was a compromise for NWMLS. Compass had pushed for more flexibility to market listings before exposing them to the entire market (or to other firms). NWMLS had fought to keep listings broadly available to both brokers and consumers, rather than requiring buyers to go through a broker to see everything for sale.

First Look preserves equal access among NWMLS brokers, but allows sellers to keep a listing off public IDX sites during the pre-market period.

My take: I’m not sold.

For buyers, it means engaging an agent if they want to be sure they’re seeing every home for sale. For sellers, limiting exposure seems hard to square with the goal of reaching as many buyers as possible.

Maybe there are situations where it makes sense. I’m still trying to figure out what they are.

What do you think?