Seattle home sales plunge as stalemate deepens

• The numbers extend a cooling trend we've seen across the region all year.

Driving the news: Seattle-area pending home sales fell 15.6% year over year in July, the steepest drop among major U.S. metros, according to a Redfin report released this week.

By the numbers: Active listings jumped 24% year over year in King County and 35% in Snohomish County in July, per NWMLS data.

• In King County, pending sales fell 13.5% and closed sales dropped nearly 12% from a year ago, while the median sale price was essentially flat at $879,500.
• Snohomish County's median price fell 6% to $719,000, while Pierce County's was up 1.7% to $575,000 and Kitsap's rose 1.6% to $589,250.

Zoom out: Across the NWMLS service area, inventory rose nearly 20% from last July, while pending sales fell 7.2% and the median price slipped 1.5% to $640,000.

The bottom line: It's a frustrating stalemate between buyers unwilling to pay today's prices and sellers reluctant to lower them.