Why Does Kirkland Have So Many More Homes for Sale Than Before? Reading the Rise in Homes for Sale

What does three times the stock mean for a seller?

A rise of 202.63% in three years means that the 659 homes for sale in August 2026 compare with about 218 in the same month of 2023, which is arithmetic from the stated change and not a figure from the page. A year ago the count was about 529. Most of the rise came in the last three years and a quarter of it in the last twelve months.

More homes for sale give a buyer more choice. They also give a seller more rivals, and the effect tends to show first in the wait and then in price cuts. The wait on Realtor.com is up 26.67% on three years, from about 31 days to 39. That is a modest rise for a tripling of the stock, which suggests that demand has grown too, or that the homes that came to market are selling.

The price tells the same story. The median listing price is down 13.75% on three years while the median sold price is up 14.80%. In other words, the asking price of the typical listing fell and the price of the typical sale rose. A tripling of stock that is full of smaller or cheaper homes would produce this pattern. The price per square foot, down 5.39% on three years, is the steadier measure and shows a small fall.

The fall in the asking price needs a caution. A median listing price that falls 10.70% in a year, to $1,254,083, with the stock up by a quarter, suggests that the new listings were cheaper than the old ones. The price per foot fell 4.52%, less than half as much. Part of the fall in the median is therefore a change in what is listed, and part is a real softening in what sellers ask.

For an owner, three times the stock is a fact about the crowd. A home that was one of 218 is now one of 659, and a buyer has more to compare. A seller with an ordinary home needs to price against more neighbors, and a seller with a home that stands out is less affected.

Source: Realtor.com page as cited. The 218, 529 and 31 day figures are this brief's arithmetic from the stated changes. The explanation of the mix is this brief's reasoning and not a statement of the page. Commercial content; not independently verified.

Is the wait 22 days or 39?

Redfin says 22 days for the three months to August 2026, up from 16 a year earlier. It also says that the average home goes pending in about 28 days. Realtor.com says a median of 39 days, down 9.52% on the year, which implies about 43 days in August 2025. The two companies disagree about the level by 17 days, and they disagree about the direction. Redfin's wait rose by six days, or 37.5%. Realtor.com's fell by four.

The measures are different. Redfin's figure is the median number of days a home spends on the market before it goes under contract, over three months, and it is for the city. Realtor.com's is the median number of days an active listing has been on the market, for one month, and it counts homes that have sat a long time. A listing that has been there 80 days raises the second figure and not the first.

A seller can use both. Twenty-two days is how quickly a home that attracts a buyer gets an offer. Thirty-nine days is closer to how long the typical home on the market now has waited. A well priced home in a good location is a 22 day home. An overpriced one is a 39 day home, or a home that is still listed after 60.

A seller should also know what may move the longer figure. Realtor.com's median counts days on market for homes that are still for sale, and a rise in stock can raise it, because a larger pool of unsold homes holds more that have waited. The page does not say how its median is built, so this is a possibility and not a finding. It is a reason to treat the 9.52% fall in the wait with some care.

The region's figure is a useful reference. The Seattle median in August was 45 days, so Realtor.com's 39 for Kirkland is six days, or 13.3%, quicker than the region, and Redfin's 22 is far quicker. Kirkland is a faster market than the region on either measure.

Source: Redfin and Realtor.com pages as cited, and Realtor.com series for the Seattle area. The 43 day, 17 day, 37.5%, six day and 13.3% figures are this brief's arithmetic. The explanation of the two measures is this brief's reasoning. Commercial content; not independently verified.

Why does a neighborhood table add up to more than the city?

The Realtor.com table lists fifteen Kirkland neighborhoods with homes for sale. Finn Hill has 114, up 59.74% on the year. North Rose Hill has 76, North Juanita 60, South Juanita 58, Evergreen Hill 57 and Willows-Rose Hill 55. Moss Bay has 48, Totem Lake 38, Norkirk 32, Central Houghton 28, South Rose Hill 27, Market 24, Highlands 23, Lakeview 22 and Everest 14.

The fifteen rows add up to 676. The page gives 659 homes for sale in Kirkland as a whole. The neighborhoods hold 17 more homes than the city, a difference of 2.6%. The rentals show the same thing: the neighborhood rows add up to 184 and the city has 174, which is 10 more, or 5.7%. The page does not say why. A neighborhood boundary that crosses the city line, or a home counted in two places, would do it.

This is the reverse of what happens in many towns, where the rows add up to far fewer than the total. Here the table covers the city, which is useful, and a seller can see how many homes compete in the area. Finn Hill, with 114, holds 17.3% of the city's listings, and its count is up 59.74% on the year. Totem Lake is up 66.67% and North Rose Hill 64.58%.

The growth is where the new supply is. Finn Hill and North Rose Hill, the two biggest, rose by more than half, and so did Totem Lake, which suggests that the rise in stock is not spread evenly. Moss Bay and South Juanita each fell, by 8.77% and 5.56%.

Source: Realtor.com page as cited. The 676, 17, 2.6%, 184, 10, 5.7% and 17.3% figures are this brief's arithmetic. The possible reasons for the difference are this brief's reasoning and not statements of the page. Commercial content; not independently verified.

How different are the neighborhoods?

The Realtor.com page gives a median listing price for fifteen neighborhoods. Market is the highest at $3,079,000, or $1,061 per square foot. Central Houghton is $2,025,000 and Norkirk $1,936,000. Lakeview is $1,474,000, Finn Hill $1,437,000 and South Rose Hill $1,395,000. At the lower end, North Juanita is $922,500, Everest $755,000 and Totem Lake $495,000.

The spread from the top to the bottom is $2,584,000. The price per foot varies far less, from $562 in North Juanita to $1,061 in Market. Totem Lake is the odd one. Its median listing is $495,000 and its price per foot is $577, which implies a typical size near 860 square feet, a ratio of medians. That points to condominiums and apartments, though the page does not say what the homes are.

The wait varies as well. Norkirk shows 28 days, Evergreen Hill and Highlands 29, South Rose Hill 32, and North Juanita 36. At the other end, Totem Lake shows 54 days and South Juanita 58, up 65.71% on the year and 45% on the month. The slowest neighborhood waits more than twice as long as the fastest, a gap of 30 days.

For an owner, the neighborhood matters more than the city. A home in Norkirk or Highlands sells in four weeks. A home in South Juanita or Totem Lake waits eight. The city median of 39 days is an average of those two worlds.

Source: Realtor.com page as cited. The $2,584,000, 30 day and implied square foot figures are this brief's arithmetic. The reading of Totem Lake is this brief's inference and not a statement of the page. Commercial content; not independently verified.

What does the Census say about a place with a price of eight years of income?

In the postal area that includes Kirkland, the median household income is $182,500 and the owner-estimated median home value is $1,491,700, with a margin of error of $92,501. The value is 8.2 times the income. The Realtor.com sold median of $1,280,000 is 7.0 times, and the median listing price of $1,254,083 is 6.9 times. A buyer at the median needs seven years of the area's median household income.

The area has 18,448 homes, of which 17,400 are occupied and 1,048, 5.7%, are vacant. Owners hold 11,002, 63.2%, and renters 6,398, 36.8%. The population is 40,982, about 2.36 per occupied home. This is a town with many renters, and some of them probably live in apartments, which may be part of why the median listing price sits below the Census value, since listings include condominiums.

The housing stock is spread across the decades. The Census counts 3,015 homes from the 2000s (16.3%), 2,987 from the 1990s (16.2%), 2,786 from the 1980s (15.1%), 2,487 from the 1970s (13.5%) and 2,365 from the 1960s (12.8%). Homes built since 2000 number 5,958, 32.3%. Only 6,717, 36.4%, were built before 1980, and the median year built is 1989.

The owner-estimated value is $211,700, or 16.5%, above the Realtor.com sold median of $1,280,000. The rent gap is small: the Census median gross rent is $2,458, and Realtor.com's asking rent is $2,500, $42 or 1.7% above it. The asking rent is down 21.88% on the year, which implies about $3,200 a year earlier, and down 26.47% on three years, about $3,400. A fall of that size is large, and it comes with a rise of 13.10% in the number of rentals.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024, and Realtor.com as cited. Ratios, shares and gaps are this brief's arithmetic. The explanation about condominiums is this brief's reasoning.

What does the Seattle series add?

The Kirkland figures end in August. The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue series cover the region and describe the direction of the market around the town. The median days on market was 34 in April 2026, 36 in May, 37 in June, 44 in July and 45 in August, a rise of 11 days or 32.4%.

Active listings in the region rose from 6,427 in February to 11,644 in June (Realtor.com, active listings), a gain of 5,217 or 81.2% in four months. New listings fell from 6,100 in May to 5,326 in July (Realtor.com, new listings), a fall of 12.7%. Homes with a price cut rose from 1,786 in February to 4,714 in June (Realtor.com, price reduced listings), a gain of 163.9%, or from 27.8% of active homes to 40.5%.

The regional median listing price was $783,250 in June and $749,970 in September (Realtor.com, median listing price), a fall of 4.2%. Kirkland's listing median of $1,254,083 is 1.67 times the August regional figure of $750,000.

The region added stock fast through the spring and summer, and price cuts rose by more than half. Kirkland's 24.55% rise in stock on the year is mild beside that. The town is a place where homes still sell quickly, in a region that is loosening, and a seller should plan for the region's direction.

Source: Realtor.com series published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis as cited. The 11 day, 32.4%, 5,217, 81.2%, 12.7%, 163.9%, 27.8%, 40.5%, 4.2% and 1.67 figures are this brief's arithmetic. The comparison with the town is this brief's reasoning.

What should an owner ask before accepting any offer?

Whether an offer is public or private, a seller can test it with a few plain questions. What is the price, and is any part of it conditional on an inspection, a loan or the sale of another home? What will I take home after every charge? When will the sale close, and can that date move? Who pays for any repair the buyer asks for? What proof is there that the money exists?

On a hillside near water, there are more. Does the buyer's inspection cover drainage, retaining walls and mature trees near the house, which matter on sloped lots? Is a view protected by a covenant or open to change by a neighbor? What happens if the buyer's financing depends on the sale of another home in a market that has more homes for sale than it did?

The comparison should include the cost of waiting. At 39 days, a home carries taxes, insurance and upkeep for more than five weeks before a buyer is found, and the sale then takes a month to close. A fixed date and a known price remove the uncertainty, and some owners value that as much as the price. Readers comparing markets can also read the Redmond brief and the Bellevue brief.

Source: this brief's general reasoning. The 39 day figure is from Realtor.com as cited. Commercial content; not independently verified.

What does a private sale change?

Maison Off-Market buys homes directly from their owners. It does not list a home, hold showings or put a home on a public listing. For a Kirkland owner, the five benefits are plain. There are no showings and no neighbors talking about the sale. The closing date can be flexible, which gives time to find a new home. There are no commission costs and no closing costs for the seller, and there are no inspections and repairs.

A little arithmetic shows what that is worth. Each 1% of a $1,280,000 sale is $12,800. A seller who gives up 3% gives up $38,400, and one who gives up 5% gives up $64,000. This brief does not claim that those are the costs of any sale, since the real figures depend on the agreement the seller signs. It shows how quickly a percentage becomes a sum.

The trade is that a private buyer may offer a price that differs from what a public sale could bring. In a market where homes draw several offers, a public sale may well fetch more. The useful comparison is the price after every cost and every week of waiting, set against a closing date the seller picks. A private offer tells an owner the number before any of that begins.

Maison Off-Market speaks only to sellers. An owner who wants to know what a direct offer would look like can use the contact form below, or call 401-219-4207, and ask for a figure with no showings, no listing and no obligation.

Source: Maison Off-Market. The fee figures are this brief's arithmetic and not claims about any sale.

Methodology and limitations

Prices, price per square foot, days on market, listing and rental counts, and the neighborhood tables for Kirkland come from two commercial pages: a national listing site page dated August 2026 and a national brokerage page with figures to August 2026. They count different things and are not independently verified.

Age, tenure, vacancy, income, rent and owner-estimated value come from the American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates for the postal-code area that includes Kirkland. Shares are calculated from published counts, and owner-estimated value carries a margin of error.

Days on market, active and new listings, median listing price and price reduced counts are Realtor.com series published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan area. They describe the region and not the town. The brief makes no forecast and values no home.

Conclusion

The Kirkland record shows three times the homes for sale of three years ago, a wait of 22 days on one page and 39 on another, a sold median near $1.28 million on both, a neighborhood table that adds up to more than the city and a region in which stock is growing fast.

It does not fix a price for any one home. The choice between a public listing and a private sale comes down to whether an owner would rather compete in that market or take privacy, a flexible closing date, no commission, no closing costs and no inspections or repairs. To see what a direct offer would look like for your home, use the contact form below or call 401-219-4207.