Published October 4, 2026 in Market Update

One part of Kitsap Co Buy Box stayed tight even as homes took longer to sell

By Thomas Earnest

Real estate, Kitsap Co Buy Box (2)

Mortgage rates topped 7% for the first time since January 2025, according to Realtor.com. That is the headline number every seller and buyer in Kitsap Co Buy Box is feeling right now. Yet one ZIP code here barely flinched.

In the three months ending July 31, 2026, ZIP 98359 had just 1.7 months of supply, according to the Real Estate Data Aggregator. That is tight by any measure. For sellers, well-priced homes can still move. For buyers, there is less room to wait.

Supply actually fell in 98359. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted just 9 homes for sale, down 25% from the same months of 2025. New listings dropped 30.4% over the same stretch. Fewer homes coming to market kept the pressure on.

Homes still sold, but the bidding wars cooled

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 16 homes sold in ZIP 98359, up 23.1% from the same period in 2025. That is a real sign of demand. But the heat came down. The share of homes that sold above list price fell 30.2 points year over year, to 31.3%.

Homes still averaged 100.5% of list price, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. That means sellers were not giving ground. But the days of easy overbids are less common now. Not every home sold fast either: median days on market was 12, which is 9 days longer than a year before.

The median price dipped, and that is worth understanding

The Real Estate Data Aggregator put the median sale price in ZIP 98359 at $777,000, down 18.2% from the same months of 2025. That is a real drop. A small market with only 16 sales can swing on which homes happened to sell. It does not mean every home lost value.

ZIP 98392: faster days, more supply

ZIP 98392 tells a different story. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted just 5 homes sold there in the three months ending July 31, 2026. Median days on market was 3, the fastest of the two ZIPs. But months of supply sat at 4.3, well above 98359.

The median sale price in 98392 was $659,000, per the Real Estate Data Aggregator. Homes averaged 99.1% of list price, just under asking. About 20% sold above list. More than half, 57.1%, went under contract within two weeks of listing.

What the national picture adds

Nationally, Realtor.com reported that price cuts hit 20.8% of listings in September, the highest since October 2022. Active listings grew 5.5% year over year, topping 1.16 million homes for sale across the country. That is the broader weight buyers and sellers are both feeling.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that U.S. house prices rose 2.6% from July 2025 to July 2026. Month over month in July, prices rose 0.3%, seasonally adjusted. So the national trend is still up, just slowly.