Fall is my favorite season on the island. The summer visitors thin out, the big-leaf maples along Highway 305 turn gold, and the market tends to get a little quieter and a lot more honest. Fewer people are listing just to see what happens. The buyers out looking in October are usually serious about it.

This fall the story has two halves: mortgage rates have moved the wrong way, and yet Kitsap County is holding up better than most of the region. Here's what I'm seeing and what it means for you.

Rates Went Back Up

Back in March I wrote about 30-year rates dipping below 6%. That window has closed. As of October 1, Freddie Mac's weekly survey put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.28%, up from 6.34% a year ago and the highest it's been since late 2023.

I won't pretend that doesn't matter. On a $750,000 loan, the difference between 6.3% and 7.3% is roughly $500 a month. Some buyers have stepped back because of it, and that's a completely reasonable choice. But it also means the buyers still shopping are facing less competition than they did in the spring.

The Region: Lots More Homes for Sale

The Northwest Multiple Listing Service's September numbers show just how much has changed across Western Washington. Active listings were up 24.5% from a year ago, the most homes for sale since 2014. Closed sales were down 8.9%, and the median sale price of $625,000 was essentially flat. Overall the region is sitting at about 4.4 months of inventory, up from about 3.25 a year ago. In plain terms, buyers across the Puget Sound have more choices and more time than they've had in years.

Kitsap Is Holding Steady

Kitsap County is the exception. In the same NWMLS report, our county had just 2.58 months of inventory, the lowest of any county listed. Closed sales were up 2.3% from last September, and the median sale price rose 1.6% to $589,500.

While much of the region is tipping toward buyers, Kitsap is still close to balanced. Homes here are not sitting around in the numbers you might expect from the headlines.

Bainbridge Island Right Now

On the island itself, I looked at the 30 days from early September to early October. There were 155 homes on the market and 42 sales, with an average sale price of about $1.42 million (around $582 per square foot). The homes that sold spent an average of about 29 days on the market, noticeably faster than a year ago.

Here's the number I'd pay the most attention to: the homes still waiting for a buyer had been listed for an average of roughly 100 days. That gap tells the whole story. Well-priced homes in good condition are still selling in a few weeks. Homes priced for last year's market are sitting, and sitting a long time.

What Buyers Should Know

  • Fall is an underrated time to buy. There are fewer buyers out, and the sellers still on the market in October usually want to be done before the holidays.
  • Look at the listings that have been sitting. A home that's been on the market for three months often has a seller who is ready to talk about price, or about a credit you can use to buy down your interest rate.
  • The rain is your friend. A fall inspection shows you how a house handles water: gutters, drainage, crawl spaces, and the roof. That's much harder to judge in August.
  • Get pre-approved now. With rates where they are, know your real monthly number before you fall in love with a house.

What Sellers Should Know

  • Price for this market, not last spring's. The difference between selling in 29 days and sitting for 100 is almost always the price.
  • Make it feel warm. Fall photos and showings happen in shorter, greyer days. Good lighting, clean gutters, a moss-free roof and a tidy entry go a long way.
  • Think about timing. If you don't need to sell this fall, preparing now to list in early spring is a perfectly good plan. If you do need to sell, the buyers out there right now are motivated.

My Take

Higher rates are real, and I'm not going to tell anyone to ignore them. But Kitsap and Bainbridge are holding up better than the region as a whole, and the gap between well-priced homes and overpriced ones has never been clearer. That's good news for anyone who wants to make a thoughtful move rather than a rushed one.

If you'd like to know what this means for your home or your search specifically, I'm always happy to talk it through.

Sources: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (October 1, 2026); Northwest Multiple Listing Service September 2026 market snapshot; Bainbridge Island listing activity September 4 to October 4, 2026.