Why So Many Homes North of Seattle Are Cutting Their Price, and What It Means for Buyers and Sellers

Short answer: In September 2026, between 32.2% and 54.7% of homes for sale in Bothell, Mill Creek, Lynnwood, Mukilteo, Everett and Edmonds had cut their asking price, according to Redfin. That sounds like a soft market, and in Bothell it is softer than a year ago. But the same data shows homes selling for 98.4% to 99.9% of their final list price on average, and roughly 20% to 30% still selling above list in most of these cities. A high price-cut share mostly means many sellers started too high. It doesn't mean every listing is open to a low offer.

Price drops in six cities north of Seattle

Source: Redfin city housing-market pages for each city, checked October 30, 2026. September 2026 is the latest month Redfin had published. Redfin's Mukilteo and Mill Creek pages showed the price-drop headline as blank when we checked; those two figures come from the chart data behind the same pages. The Compete Score is Redfin's 0–100 rating of how competitive a market is over the last three months. Mill Creek recorded 56 sales in September, so its figures can move a lot from month to month.

What the price-drop number measures

Redfin defines the share of homes with a price drop as the percentage of homes for sale that lowered their price below the original asking price. Its methodology counts a cut only if it is at least 1% and no more than 50%, which screens out rounding changes and data errors. A home that sells below its list price without ever changing the list price is not counted.

So "54.7% of Bothell homes had a price drop" means a bit more than half of the homes on the market had been cut at least once. It says nothing about the size of those cuts, and nothing about whether the cut homes then sold.

Why sale-to-list stays near 99% anyway

Redfin's average sale-to-list ratio compares each home's final sale price with its final list price. Here is how that hides a cut, using round numbers rather than a real listing:

• A home lists at $800,000.
• After a few weeks it drops to $760,000.
• It sells for $752,400, which is 99% of the new price.

That sale counts as 99% sale-to-list. Against the first asking price, the buyer paid about 94%. This is why you need both numbers. Sale-to-list tells you how close buyers are paying to the current price. The price-drop share tells you how often the current price isn't the first one.

Price cuts rise every fall, but not equally

Source: Redfin monthly history for each city, checked October 30, 2026. Share of homes for sale with a price drop.

Every city follows the same broad curve: the fewest cuts in late winter, then a steady climb through summer and fall as listings that haven't sold get repriced. Three things stand out this year:

• Bothell is well above last year. 54.7% in September 2026 against 38.2% a year earlier, while only 12.0% sold above list, down 12.8 points. Redfin rates Bothell "somewhat competitive" (score 65), the lowest of the six.
• Lynnwood moved up too. 40.2% against 32.1%, with above-list sales down 7.3 points.
• Everett and Edmonds look much like last fall. Everett's share is 1.2 points lower than a year ago, and both cities had more homes selling above list than in September 2025.

We aren't going to guess at the reasons here. For a decision about one home, the pattern matters more than the cause.

If you're buying

1. Read the listing's own history. How many cuts, how large, and how many days since it first listed. Compare that with the city's median days on market, not with a gut feeling.
2. Treat a recent cut differently from an old listing. A home that just dropped into a new price band can pull a fresh wave of showings and sometimes more than one offer. A home that has sat well past the median after two cuts is where there is usually room to talk about price, repairs or closing costs.
3. Don't assume the whole city is discounted. In Edmonds and Everett roughly 3 in 10 homes sold above list in September. Homes that were priced right from day one still sell close to or above asking.
4. Write the offer around facts. Recent nearby sales, the listing's price history and what the inspection finds carry more weight than the city's price-drop percentage. Our guide to making an offer in Washington goes through the terms beyond price.

If you're selling

1. The first price does the most work. A new listing gets its biggest audience when it first appears in buyers' searches and alerts. Starting high and cutting later spends that moment, and the cut stays visible in the listing history.
2. Price against what's for sale this week. Buyers are comparing your home with the listings they're touring now, including the ones that have already been cut.
3. Decide your two-week and four-week moves before you list. If showings are steady and no offer comes, the price is usually the issue. If showings are thin, check the photos and the description too.
4. If you cut, cut once and cut enough. A small reduction often doesn't move a home into a new search band. Look at where buyers' price filters break, such as $750,000 or $1,000,000, and land below one.

For city detail, see our seller guides for Bothell, Mill Creek, Lynnwood and Mukilteo.

How to read Redfin's city numbers

• Check the month. We checked on October 30, 2026, and September was still the latest month. October figures will replace these.
• Small cities move around. A city with 50 or 60 sales a month can swing several points on a handful of homes.
• Mix matters. A month with more condos or more large houses changes the medians and the shares without any single home changing value.

FAQ

What does it mean when Redfin says 40% of homes had a price drop?

It means about 4 in 10 homes for sale in that city lowered their asking price below the original list price. Redfin counts a cut of at least 1% and no more than 50%. It doesn't mean prices fell 40%, and it doesn't tell you how big the cuts were.

Which cities north of Seattle have the most price cuts right now?

Of the six cities we checked, Bothell had the highest share in September 2026: 54.7% of homes had a price drop, 16.5 points more than a year earlier. Mill Creek was at 47.3%, Lynnwood 40.2%, Mukilteo 40.0%, Everett 37.8% and Edmonds 32.2%.

If so many homes cut price, why is the sale-to-list ratio still near 99%?

Because Redfin measures sale-to-list against the final list price, after any cuts. A home that drops from $800,000 to $760,000 and then sells for 99% of the new price shows up as 99%, even though the buyer paid about 94% of the first asking price.

Should a buyer offer below asking on a home that has cut its price?

Sometimes. A price cut tells you the seller has already moved once, and how long the home has been listed tells you more. But well-priced homes still draw competition: in September 2026, 31.5% of Everett homes and 29.8% of Edmonds homes sold above list. Look at the home's own history and nearby sales before you decide.

Are price drops normal in the fall?

Yes, to a point. In all six cities the share hit its low last winter, between about 17% and 27% in February 2026 (Mill Creek's low came in January and Everett's in March), and climbed through summer and fall. What stands out this year is Bothell and Lynnwood, where the share is also well above September 2025.

Talk it through with a local agent

Peter Kim and Odigo Real Estate Club work with buyers and sellers in Lynnwood, Bothell, Mill Creek, Mukilteo, Everett and Edmonds, and read each listing's history before setting a price or writing an offer, with 25+ years combined experience, 593+ closings, and 122 five-star Zillow reviews. See our home buying services, home selling services, or request a property valuation.

Odigo Real Estate Club · REAL Brokerage, WA #112064 · 16108 Ash Way, Suite 201, Lynnwood, WA 98087 · (425) 409-3823 · Mon–Sat 9 AM–6 PM, closed Sunday

Sources

• Redfin, Bothell WA housing market (sale-to-list, homes sold above list and homes with price drops for September 2026, monthly history, Compete Score), https://www.redfin.com/city/29439/WA/Bothell/housing-market , accessed Oct 30, 2026.
• Redfin, Mill Creek WA housing market (sale-to-list, homes sold above list and homes with price drops for September 2026, monthly history, Compete Score), https://www.redfin.com/city/11701/WA/Mill-Creek/housing-market , accessed Oct 30, 2026.
• Redfin, Lynnwood WA housing market (sale-to-list, homes sold above list and homes with price drops for September 2026, monthly history, Compete Score), https://www.redfin.com/city/10421/WA/Lynnwood/housing-market , accessed Oct 30, 2026.
• Redfin, Mukilteo WA housing market (sale-to-list, homes sold above list and homes with price drops for September 2026, monthly history, Compete Score), https://www.redfin.com/city/12197/WA/Mukilteo/housing-market , accessed Oct 30, 2026.
• Redfin, Everett WA housing market (sale-to-list, homes sold above list and homes with price drops for September 2026, monthly history, Compete Score), https://www.redfin.com/city/5832/WA/Everett/housing-market , accessed Oct 30, 2026.
• Redfin, Edmonds WA housing market (sale-to-list, homes sold above list and homes with price drops for September 2026, monthly history, Compete Score), https://www.redfin.com/city/5357/WA/Edmonds/housing-market , accessed Oct 30, 2026.
• Redfin, Data Center metrics definitions (share of homes with a price drop; average sale-to-list ratio; median days on market), https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center-metrics-definitions/ , accessed Oct 30, 2026.
• Redfin, Data Center methodology (what counts as a price drop: a cut of at least 1% and no more than 50% on an active listing), https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center/methodology/ , accessed Oct 30, 2026.

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