Downtown Seattle, Pier 66; both the city proper and the metro area of Seattle have been significantly impacted by the slowing housing market.
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Across the U.S., housing markets have been gripped by a general cooling-off after years of surging home values and sales. Such a development is only natural, but it often impacts cities very unevenly, with some housing markets feeling the slowdown to a much more serious degree than others.
By looking at year-over-year changes in home values from Zillow and available for-sale inventory from Redfin, we identified the cities most affected by the recent cool-down. Find out which cities have been most severely impacted by the recent housing slowdown.
Seattle
The city of Seattle and the metro overall have been particularly hard hit by the slowing housing market. According to Redfin data, available housing inventory in Seattle rose from 1,064 in May 2018 to 2,175 in May 2019, an increase of over 100%. For the Seattle metro area overall, the increase in inventory is smaller, though substantial: from 5,257 available homes for sale in May 2018 to 7,675 in May 2019, an increase of 46% year-over-year.
Meanwhile, home values, according to Zillow, dropped by 4.5% over the last year, and are projected to fall by 3.8% in the next year.
Cities throughout the Seattle metro area have been adversely affected, some more seriously than the city of Seattle. For example, the bedroom community of Lake Forest Park north of Seattle has seen home values drop by 5.3% over the last year, and are expected to fall by another 3.9% in the coming year. Shoreline, another Seattle suburb, has seen home values decline by 5.1% year-over-year, and its projected future decline — 4.4% — is steeper than both Lake Forest Park and Seattle.
Take a look below at all the cities in the Seattle metro area that have experienced absolute declines in home value from 2018 to 2019.
| City | State | Metro | Past Year Change (%) | May 2018 Median Home Value |
May 2019 Median Home Value |
| Lake Forest Park | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -5.30% | $692,300 | $655,600 |
| Shoreline | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -5.12% | $597,200 | $566,600 |
| Seattle | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -4.5% | $751,700 | $717,800 |
| Vashon | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -4.49% | $632,400 | $604,000 |
| Issaquah | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -4.42% | $741,400 | $708,600 |
| Newcastle | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -4.20% | $848,000 | $812,400 |
| Kirkland | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -3.46% | $743,700 | $718,000 |
| Black Diamond | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -3.37% | $442,600 | $427,700 |
| North Bend | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -2.44% | $570,400 | $556,500 |
| Redmond | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -2.40% | $852,600 | $832,100 |
| Woodinville | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -2.32% | $806,600 | $787,900 |
| Kenmore | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -2.29% | $667,900 | $652,600 |
| Sammamish | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -2.27% | $925,400 | $904,400 |
| Renton | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -2.00% | $470,600 | $461,200 |
| Duvall | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -1.96% | $621,400 | $609,200 |
| Burien | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -1.86% | $429,600 | $421,600 |
| Des Moines | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -1.76% | $385,400 | $378,600 |
| Bellevue | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -1.65% | $928,100 | $912,800 |
| Yarrow Point | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -1.59% | $2,766,900 | $2,722,800 |
| Maple Valley | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -1.49% | $468,400 | $461,400 |
| White Center | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -1.39% | $424,000 | $418,100 |
| Edmonds | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -1.22% | $613,600 | $606,100 |
| East Hill-Meridian | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -1.15% | $409,700 | $405,000 |
| Bryn Mawr-Skyway | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -1.13% | $441,700 | $436,700 |
| Normandy Park | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -1.09% | $677,000 | $669,600 |
| Carnation | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -1.03% | $609,200 | $602,900 |
| Woodway | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -1.01% | $1,481,500 | $1,466,500 |
| Mountlake Terrace | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -1.01% | $447,100 | $442,600 |
| Bothell | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -1.00% | $609,600 | $603,500 |
| Covington | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -0.97% | $391,500 | $387,700 |
| Snoqualmie | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -0.88% | $679,900 | $673,900 |
| Ravensdale | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -0.83% | $527,900 | $523,500 |
| Clyde Hill | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -0.82% | $2,573,600 | $2,552,600 |
| Kent | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -0.77% | $387,300 | $384,300 |
| Federal Way | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -0.66% | $364,900 | $362,500 |
| Enumclaw | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -0.56% | $391,000 | $388,800 |
| Medina | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -0.46% | $2,778,900 | $2,766,000 |
| Mill Creek | WA | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | -0.37% | $600,300 | $598,100 |
San Jose
Like the tech-centered city of Seattle, San Jose and the San Jose metro area too have taken the housing slowdown quite hard. According to Zillow, home values in San Jose declined by 4.2% since last year, and are forecasted to fall by 6.9% in the coming year. But that’s nothing compared to other cities in the San Jose metro area.
In Santa Clara, home values dropped by 8.4% from May 2018 to May 2019; in the next year, Santa Clara home values are expected to fall by 9.4%. In Sunnyvale, the decline is even more dramatic: Home values plummeted 10.7% since last year, and are projected to continue falling by 10.5% over the next year. Inventory has increased year-over-year in both Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, according to Redfin data, with the latter up 73.8% in terms of all homes for sale form May 2018 to May 2019.
The impact on San Jose metro area home values has been substantial. Out of the 24 cities in the San Jose metro area tracked by Zillow, 21 of them have experienced outright declines in median home value year-over-year.
| City | State | Metro | Past Year Change (%) | May 2018 Median Home Value |
May 2019 Median Home Value |
| Stanford | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -14.9% | $3,406,700 | $2,900,700 |
| Monte Sereno | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -11.5% | $3,604,400 | $3,190,400 |
| Sunnyvale | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -10.7% | $1,884,200 | $1,683,000 |
| Lexington Hills | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -10.4% | $1,038,700 | $930,600 |
| Campbell | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -9.7% | $1,437,400 | $1,298,300 |
| Palo Alto | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -9.4% | $3,237,300 | $2,932,700 |
| Saratoga | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -9.1% | $2,969,100 | $2,699,300 |
| Los Altos Hills | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -9.0% | $4,928,600 | $4,486,900 |
| Cupertino | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -8.8% | $2,310,200 | $2,106,600 |
| Santa Clara | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -8.4% | $1,402,300 | $1,284,100 |
| Alum Rock | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -8.3% | $754,400 | $691,600 |
| Los Altos | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -7.8% | $3,505,200 | $3,231,000 |
| Cambrian Park | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -7.5% | $1,479,500 | $1,369,200 |
| Gilroy | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -7.3% | $776,600 | $720,200 |
| Milpitas | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -6.3% | $1,097,600 | $1,028,600 |
| Morgan Hill | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -5.3% | $952,300 | $901,400 |
| Mountain View | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -5.0% | $1,892,100 | $1,797,600 |
| Los Gatos | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -4.8% | $1,993,800 | $1,898,300 |
| San Jose | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -4.2% | $1,067,100 | $1,022,300 |
| East Foothills | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -3.3% | $971,400 | $939,300 |
| San Martin | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | -2.3% | $1,107,900 | $1,082,500 |
| Burbank | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | 1.0% | $960,300 | $970,200 |
| Hollister | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | 6.0% | $505,000 | $535,500 |
| San Juan Bautista | CA | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | 7.3% | $607,700 | $651,800 |
There are, of course, other cities that have seen home values decline since last year. But those other cities didn’t experience the marked increase in housing inventory the way the Seattle and San Jose areas have. For instance, New Orleans home values have declined by 5.5% year-over-year, but available inventory, according to Redfin, was 1,573 in May 2019, down by 36.5% from May 2018 when there were 2,478 homes for sale.
Check out the full list of cities that have taken the housing slowdown the worst.