Two markets,
one region.
The national market is splitting in two โ one story for affordable, job-access metros, and another for the markets that ran hottest from 2020–22. The Eastside is squarely in the second group. Here's what the numbers said in May, and what they mean if you're buying or selling in the next 90 days.
Your automated valuation is lying to you โ politely.
Zillow's Zestimate typically runs 10–20% above what a home will actually close for in a market like this one. In a rising-inventory environment, that gap doesn't shrink โ it widens, because algorithms lag behind real-time buyer behavior.
The result: sellers walk into pricing conversations expecting a number the market already stopped supporting weeks ago.
What happens when the price is right, not hopeful.
This is the paradox of a bifurcated market: pricing slightly under the number a Zestimate would suggest doesn't leave money on the table โ it creates the competitive tension that pushes the final price above it. Priced hopeful, this home sits. Priced right, it sold in less than a week for nearly $250K over ask.
What this means for you
Precision beats hope.
With inventory up 34% and pending sales at a 17-year seasonal low, "list high and see what happens" is the strategy that produces 45+ days on market and a price cut. A disciplined, data-backed pricing strategy is what produces the Newport Hills outcome instead.
You have leverage โ use it.
Months of inventory are climbing at their fastest pace since 2011. That's not a headline, it's negotiating room: on price, on terms, on contingencies. The buyers winning right now are the ones who know which listings are overpriced and stale versus genuinely well-priced.
The 5P Framework
Curious what this means for your street?
Every micro-market on the Eastside is moving at a different speed right now. I'll give you the real read on yours โ no pressure, just the data.
