Price data tells you what already happened. Showings tell you what's about to. In June, they diverged sharply across the Eastside and Seattle.
The metric worth watching
Every month the NWMLS publishes a showings report: how many times buyers actually walked through homes, and how many active listings there were. Divide one by the other and you get showings per listing — how much attention the average home is getting.
It's a leading indicator. Buyers tour before they offer, and they offer before anything closes, so showings move well before a median sale price does. When showings fall, negotiating room usually follows a month or two later.
King County averaged 4.1 showings per listing in June, down from 4.8 in May. Total showings across the county fell about 11% in a single month.
Eight markets cooled. One didn't.
Here's the June picture across the communities we track, ranked by buyer interest, with the month-over-month change in total showings:
- Mercer Island — 5.9 per listing, showings up 12.5%. The only market where buyer traffic actually rose, and the highest interest of the group.
- Shoreline — 5.1, down 16.3%. Still well above the county average despite a sharp monthly pullback.
- Edmonds — 4.9, down 11.0%. Above average, easing in line with the county.
- Bellevue — 4.5, down 9.5%. Above average, but noticeably quieter than the spring.
- Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, Seattle — all 3.9. Right at the county average, with very different monthly moves underneath.
- Bothell — 3.8, down 6.4%. The softest interest of the group.
The spread inside that middle band is the interesting part. Sammamish eased just 4.1% and Kirkland 5.0%, while Seattle fell 17.4% — the steepest drop of any market we track — despite all four landing on the same 3.9 today.
Why Mercer Island went the other way
Scarcity. Mercer Island had roughly a hundred active listings in June against more than six hundred showings. When very little comes to market in a place people specifically want to be, even softening overall demand concentrates on what's available.
It's a useful reminder that "the market" is not one thing. A county-wide easing can coexist with real competition in a specific place at a specific price point.
How to actually use this
If you're buying: falling showings per listing is your friend. Fewer people touring the same home means less competition and more room on price and terms. Where interest sits below the county average — Bothell right now — that room is widest.
If you're selling: a decline in showings is an early warning, not a reason to panic. It means the pool of buyers walking through is thinner, so the ones who do come matter more. Pricing and presentation carry disproportionate weight in that environment.
One caveat worth stating plainly: showings measure attention, not price. A market can have high buyer interest and still see values drift, and vice versa. It's one signal among several — but it's the freshest one available.
Figures: NWMLS Showings Report, June 2026 vs May 2026, published July 2026.
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