Which Seattle Neighborhoods Saw the Strongest Bidding Competition?

By Brandice Raybourn

The strongest clusters were local

In a detailed July export, 156 of 495 Seattle sales closed above list price. The competition was meaningful but uneven, which is exactly why neighborhood and property-level comparisons matter more than a single Seattle headline.

Gatewood and Highland Park stood out

Six of nine Gatewood sales and seven of 11 Highland Park sales closed above asking. Seaview recorded three above-list results among four sales. ZIP code 98136 also produced nine above-list sales among 16 transactions.

North Seattle had its own pockets

ZIP code 98107 recorded eight above-list sales among 13, while Hawthorne Hills recorded two among three. These are small samples, but they show how quickly competition can concentrate around desirable housing styles, locations, and scarce inventory.

Neighborhood is only part of the explanation

Condition, architecture, lot, view, updates, layout, and launch pricing still determine whether a home becomes the one several buyers want. A strong neighborhood cannot rescue a listing that does not make sense beside its immediate competition.

What this means for your situation

Market statistics describe groups of properties, not the value or likely outcome of one individual home. Buyers should compare the property with the choices available in its exact price range and location. Sellers should look at the homes buyers can choose today, not only the sales they remember from a tighter market.

If I had to sum up July in one sentence: Gatewood, Highland Park, Seaview, 98136, 98107, and Hawthorne Hills produced some of Seattle’s clearest July above-list clusters, but the individual home still drove the result.

Read the Full Seattle Housing Market Report

Want to see every Seattle housing type and residential resale price range in one place?

Read the complete Seattle Housing Market Update for August 2026.

The August report uses July 2026 NWMLS data. Market statistics describe groups of properties and do not determine the value or likely outcome of any individual home.

Brandice Raybourn
Coldwell Banker Danforth
Snohomish & North King County Real Estate Broker