Seattle and San Francisco have always been compared — both are West Coast tech hubs with limited housing supply, high-paying employers, and some of the highest home prices in the country. But right now, they are heading in opposite directions.
As Rob Luecke Jr wrote on r/Seattle (29 upvotes, 11K views): "Home sales in Seattle fell roughly 9% year over year in July, while San Francisco saw sales increase about 9% over the same period."
The Divergence
Seattle’s housing market is showing clear signs of cooling. Sales volume is down, inventory is rising, and buyer urgency has softened. Meanwhile, San Francisco — which was written off by many during the remote work exodus — is rebounding. Sales are up, confidence is returning, and prices in key neighborhoods have stabilized.
The interesting question is why. Both markets share the same macro conditions: elevated mortgage rates, tech industry layoffs and AI restructuring, and return-to-office mandates. Yet one is slowing while the other accelerates.
For buyers, a cooling market isn’t bad news — it’s opportunity. When sales volume drops, so does competition. Sellers become more negotiable. And in a market like Seattle where the median home is around $850K, every percentage point of savings matters.
What This Means for Your Wallet
In a traditional Seattle transaction, a buyer pays their agent 2.5% — that’s $21,250 on an $850K home. With ShopProp, you pay a flat fee of $1,995 and get the rest back as a rebate: up to $19,255 at closing.
In San Francisco at the median of $1.4M, the math is even more dramatic. Traditional 2.5% = $35,000. ShopProp flat fee = $1,995. Rebate = up to $33,005.
Whether you’re buying in a cooling Seattle market or a surging San Francisco market, paying less for the same representation makes sense.
Real ShopProp Closing in Seattle
Real ShopProp Closing in San Francisco
As featured in
NPR · USA Today · New York Post · Brookings Institution · Mercury News · MarketWatch · Reddit r/BayAreaRealEstate
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Source: PublicNow / EBS. As featured in NPR, USA Today, New York Post, and Brookings Institution.