Buyer traffic rose in 7 of 11 markets. Here's the map.

The cleanest real-time read on how hard buyers are competing is showings per active listing. In August the King County average was 4.1, and buyer traffic rose in seven of the eleven communities we track — the most of any month so far, up from five of nine in July and one of nine in June. Renton and Issaquah entered our data this month. Here's where demand is tightest, where it firmed, and where it cooled.

The tightest markets

Buyer interest (showings per listing) against the 4.1 county average:

• Shoreline — 5.7, showings up 9.7%. It leads our list for the first time; Mercer Island led in June and Edmonds in July.
• Edmonds — 5.0, showings down 5.0% after July's 15.9% jump. Still well above average.
• Mercer Island — 4.9, showings up 37.8% (more on that below).
• Bellevue — 4.8, showings up 7.4%. Solid, broad-based interest.

Where it firmed

Kirkland (4.4, up 8.7%) and Redmond (4.4, up 10.4%) both posted a second straight monthly gain — Kirkland after 8.3% in July, Redmond after 7.9%. Two months running is a firmer signal than one. Sammamish (4.0, up 17.3%) is the sharpest turn: it had the lowest buyer interest of any market we tracked in July (3.4), then jumped. Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish and Mercer Island all rose in August, a clear turn from June, when Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland and Sammamish were all falling.

Where it cooled

• Issaquah — 3.6, showings down 8.7%. The lowest buyer interest of the eleven, which can mean more room to negotiate.
• Seattle — 3.9, down 4.2%. Below the county average. In a market this large, a city-wide figure hides a lot: a Ballard bungalow and a downtown condo aren't the same market.
• Edmonds — down 5.0% and Bothell — 3.8, down 1.6%, the latter with the second-lowest buyer interest of the eleven.

New this month: Renton and Issaquah

Both already have neighborhood guides on this site and now appear in the data. Renton (4.3, up 1.1%) held essentially flat and just above the county average — steady rather than hot. Issaquah sits at the opposite end of the scale from Shoreline: fewer showings per listing, which may mean more room for a buyer to negotiate. Each has only one month in our series so far, so we won't call a trend yet.

Read the thin markets with care

Mercer Island shows how noisy a small market gets: 594 showings against 127 active listings, with listings up 24.5% on July. Its buyer interest has gone 5.9 in June, 4.3 in July and 4.9 in August. That's three months of swinging, not a trend — the same lesson we drew in August's Mercer Island and Edmonds post. Give more weight to bigger markets and to repeated moves.

What to do with this

• Buying in a tight market (Shoreline, Edmonds, Bellevue, Mercer Island): have pre-approval and your decision criteria settled before you tour.
• Buying in a cooler one (Issaquah, Bothell, Seattle): there may be more room to negotiate on price, credits and timing.
• Selling: compare your city's number to the 4.1 county average before deciding how aggressively to price. Above it, showings will come. Below it, presentation and price matter more.
• One caution: all of this was measured in August, before the Fed raised rates and the 30-year passed 7%. See what that changes.

Figures: NWMLS Showings Report, August 2026, versus July 2026 (and June 2026 for earlier comparisons). Buyer interest is showings per active listing. See the full September report for all eleven communities.