Are Bellingham Home Prices Dropping? October 2026 Numbers

By Tommy Mutchler — Real Estate Agent, Managing Broker, Real Broker LLC, Whatcom County WA

Are Bellingham home prices dropping? Asking prices are. The median asking price on a Bellingham house fell from $875,000 to $776,000 in a year, but the median price homes actually sold for barely moved: $740,000 in September 2026 vs. $739,000 a year earlier (Northwest MLS). Brand-new homes took the biggest hit, mortgage rates hit 7.4%, and the answer changes from town to town, so here are the October 2026 numbers and what they mean if you own a home here.

Last updated October 2026. Numbers checked against the named sources on October 8, 2026.

Are Bellingham home prices dropping? The numbers at a glance

Whatcom County just hit its most homes for sale since at least 2016 (Realtor.com, August 2026), and the median asking price on a Bellingham house fell by about $99,000 in one year. But here's the strange part: in August, 47% of Bellingham homes sold for more than the asking price (Redfin). Some sellers are cutting their prices again and again, while others are getting more than they asked for.

Here's where things stand, from the Northwest MLS September 2026 numbers unless noted:

• Median asking price, Bellingham houses for sale: $776,000 at the end of September, down from $875,000 a year earlier.
• Median sold price, Bellingham houses: $740,000 in September, vs. $739,000 a year earlier. Basically flat.
• Brand-new Bellingham houses: a median of about $692,000 from January through September, down from about $810,000 (down about 15%).
• 30-year mortgage rate: 7.4% on October 8, 2026, up from about 6.3% a year earlier (Freddie Mac).
• Bellingham houses gone pending in September: 86, up from 73 (up 18%).
• All of Whatcom County: a median of about $620,000, up about 3%.

So which homes are dropping, which ones are selling for more than asking, and why? Let's start with the homes taking the biggest hit. They're not the old ones. They're the brand-new ones.

1. Brand-new homes took the biggest hit

The median brand-new house in Bellingham sold for about $692,000 from January through September 2026. Over the same months last year, it was about $810,000. That's about $118,000 less, down almost 15% (Northwest MLS).

New homes are also taking a lot longer to sell, which isn't a surprise, since big discounts tend to come with more days on market. They averaged 85 days on market this year, up from 51. Brand-new condos are even slower: the ones for sale in Bellingham had been listed for 475 days on average (Northwest MLS, September 2026). I've never seen anything take more than a year to sell on average. It's mind-boggling.

To be fair, part of that price drop could be that the new homes selling now are smaller and more affordable. If more of the homes selling are small townhouses, the median goes down even if no builder ever dropped a price. But those 85 days on market don't lie. New homes are sitting.

Why this matters even if you're not a builder: a builder can't move into a house and wait for a buyer. Every month a new home sits empty, it costs them more money, so when it sits, builders need to cut the price fast (you'd be surprised how many don't). If you're a buyer, that's great news. If you're thinking about selling a home that's less than 10 years old, the builder down the street is your competition, and their price cuts can hurt your sale. That's a very different situation than selling an updated, Victorian-era home.

2. Asking price vs. selling price

A $99,000 drop sounds like every buyer should now get $99,000 off their next home. That couldn't be further from the truth, because what dropped was the asking price, not the actual value of homes.

At the end of September 2026, the median asking price on a Bellingham house was $776,000. A year earlier it was $875,000. That's only the price sellers are listing at. Look at what Bellingham houses actually sold for, and the median was $740,000 in September 2026 vs. $739,000 a year earlier (Northwest MLS). Selling prices didn't drop. They're up $1,000, basically the same.

So how does that happen? It's the biggest mistake I see sellers make: they think their house is worth more than it really is. They list high, buyers say no, and they either drop the price or take the home off the market. That's why the way you price your home matters more than almost anything else. There are really only three ways to do it:

• Price it too high and let it sit. It's like starting an eBay auction way above what anyone will pay. Nobody raises their hand, so you drop the price. Thirty days later you drop it again, and 60 days later again. Pretty soon buyers are asking, "What's wrong with this house? Why isn't it selling?" For example, you list at $850,000, it sits for two months, you cut the price a couple of times, and it sells for $760,000 when it really should have sold for $800,000.
• Price it at market value, which is always a safe bet. In that same example, listing at $800,000 could sell for $810,000 or $820,000, or maybe a little less, $790,000 or $780,000.
• Price it a little low to try for a bidding war. List at $780,000 or $790,000 and you have a much better chance of buyers competing with each other, and the home could sell for $800,000, $820,000, maybe even $850,000 or more.

(Those dollar amounts are an example to show how pricing works, not real sales.)

That last one happens in Whatcom County every day. In August, almost half of the homes that sold in Bellingham (47%) sold for more than the asking price (Redfin), and more Bellingham houses went pending this September than last September (Northwest MLS). So the next time someone tells you Bellingham home prices are dropping, ask them one question: are the asking prices dropping, or the selling prices?

What's your home worth this month?

Everything in this article is a median for a whole town, and your house is anything but average. To find out what your home would actually sell for this month, text VALUE to (360) 312-4410 or request it at https://tommymutchler.com/evaluation. I'll work out your home's value and send you a short video explaining it. It's free, with no pressure. (Here's more on how home valuations work in Bellingham.)

3. Mortgage rates hit 7.4%

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 7.4% on October 8, 2026, up from about 6.3% a year earlier (Freddie Mac). That doesn't just hurt buyers. It hurts sellers too.

Take the median Bellingham house price of $740,000 with 20% down. At last year's rate, the principal-and-interest payment is about $3,660 a month. At today's rate, it's about $4,100, roughly $435 more every month for the same house at the same price. Or look at it the other way: with the same monthly payment as last year, a buyer can now afford about $662,000 of house instead of $740,000. That's about 11% less house for the same money.

As a result, homes are taking longer to sell. In June, a typical Bellingham home went pending in about 10 days; by August it took about 22 days (Zillow). Unless you're paying cash, buyers are getting a lot less for their money right now.

4. Did home buyers leave Bellingham?

No. Higher rates don't mean the buyers are gone. In September 2026, 86 Bellingham houses went pending, up from 73 a year earlier, about 18% more (Northwest MLS). Bellingham houses also have less than three months of supply, which means sellers usually still have some leverage. Redfin says the hottest homes in Bellingham are selling for about the asking price and going pending in about five days.

It's not like that everywhere. Across Whatcom County, about 15% fewer homes went pending than a year earlier (208 vs. 244). But in Bellingham, the buyers are still here. They're just really picky. The buyers haven't left Bellingham. They've just stopped overpaying for homes that aren't worth it.

5. Town by town: Ferndale, Lynden, Blaine and Birch Bay

So which Whatcom County towns are actually doing well in this strange market? Not Bellingham, which is pretty flat. Here's the rest of the county, from the Northwest MLS September 2026 numbers. (Comparing towns? Here's my guide to Ferndale vs. Lynden vs. Bellingham.)

Ferndale and Custer: up about 10%

Ferndale is doing great right now. The median house in Ferndale and Custer sold for $650,000 in September, up from about $592,000 a year earlier, almost 10% higher. Homes there are taking longer to sell, but they're selling for more.

Lynden: down about 5%, on only 9 sales

Lynden went the other way. The median price was $623,000, down from $657,000 a year earlier, about 5% lower. Homes took about 75 days to sell, up from about 40. But only nine homes sold in Lynden in September, and in a smaller market the numbers can jump around a lot from month to month, so I wouldn't put too much stock in it.

Blaine and Birch Bay: about flat, but slower

Blaine and Birch Bay are about flat, down about 1% to a median of about $587,000. But homes there took 78 days to sell, and there were 184 homes for sale, up from 140 a year earlier.

All of Whatcom County: up about 3%

Here's the surprise: across all of Whatcom County, the median house price actually went up about 3%, to about $620,000.

So is Whatcom County a buyer's market or a seller's market? Honestly, it depends on the town, the neighborhood and even the individual house. If anything, I'd call it a more balanced market.

6. Sell this fall or wait for spring?

Every fall, about a third of your competition in Whatcom County disappears. Every year since at least 2016, the number of Whatcom County homes for sale has dropped from September to December. In 2025 it went from 917 to 603, down 34% (Realtor.com). Some sellers pull their homes off the market for the holidays, and fewer homes come up for sale in the winter.

There are also fewer buyers in the winter, so homes take a little longer to sell. In September 2025, the typical Whatcom County home for sale had been sitting on the market about 59 days; by December it was about 85 days (Realtor.com). But there's a good trade-off: the buyers out in December are serious. They're not the looky-loos or tire kickers. You'll get fewer showings, but a lot more serious buyers, which I'd argue is a huge plus.

What about spring? Spring brings more buyers, but it also brings all the sellers who waited for spring. In April 2026 there were 686 homes for sale in Whatcom County (Realtor.com), more than in December, and you'll get a lot more looky-loos.

My take: more competition and more buyers in the spring, or less competition and fewer buyers in the fall? It's a wash. After 10 years of selling homes, I'd recommend selling when the time is right for you and your family. Trying to time the housing market usually just doesn't work. If it did, I'd be very rich, and I'm not.

7. How to sell a Bellingham home for top dollar

The only way to sell your home for top dollar in Bellingham right now is to sell it fast. Yes, even today, some Bellingham homes are still going pending in about five days (Redfin). Here's what they have in common.

1. Presentation. To sell a Bellingham or Whatcom County home fast and for top dollar, it needs to show well. That doesn't mean renovating. In fact, I'd recommend not renovating, because what you make from a renovation usually cancels out what it cost. What you do need is a great first impression: the home clean inside and out, the yard looking sharp, and no smell of dog inside. Some of that seems obvious, but it isn't. And if you're willing to move out temporarily, professional staging can go a long way toward top dollar.

2. Promotion. Find a realtor who won't just put a sign in the yard, put it on the MLS and pray it magically sells. You want someone who takes a proactive approach: promoting your listing, looking for buyers and working hard to get it sold for top dollar. When I work with buyers, I tell them, "Don't hire a realtor. Hire a negotiator," because a negotiator gets them a better deal. The same is true for sellers: don't hire a realtor, hire a marketer, someone who will advertise your home and get it sold for more.

3. Pricing strategy. As we covered above, it's better to list a little low and create a bidding war than to list high and drop the price five times. But how do you know which price will actually bring multiple offers? That's why we use price testing: we test your price at what we think the home should sell for before it ever goes on the open market.

What this means if you're thinking about selling

• Know which number you're hearing. Asking prices in Bellingham dropped; selling prices didn't. When someone says prices are dropping, ask whether they mean asking or selling prices.
• Price it right from day one. Market value is the safe bet, and a little low gives you the best shot at a bidding war. Listing high and chasing the market down is how homes end up selling for less than they should.
• If your home is less than 10 years old, the builder down the street is your competition, and builders are under pressure to cut prices.
• Fall vs. spring is a wash. Fall brings less competition and more serious buyers; spring brings more buyers and more sellers. Sell when the time is right for you and your family.
• Sell it fast to sell it for top dollar: presentation, promotion and pricing strategy.

Frequently asked questions

Are Bellingham home prices dropping in 2026?

Asking prices are; selling prices aren't. The median asking price of Bellingham houses for sale was $776,000 at the end of September 2026, down from $875,000 a year earlier. The median sold price was $740,000 in September 2026 vs. $739,000 a year earlier (Northwest MLS).

Are new homes in Bellingham dropping in price?

Yes. The median brand-new Bellingham house sold for about $692,000 from January through September 2026, down from about $810,000 (about 15% lower), and new homes averaged 85 days on market vs. 51. Part of the drop may be a shift toward smaller, more affordable new homes (Northwest MLS).

How do 7.4% mortgage rates affect Bellingham sellers?

On a $740,000 house with 20% down, the principal-and-interest payment went from about $3,660 a month at last year's rate of about 6.3% to about $4,100 at 7.4% (Freddie Mac, October 8, 2026). The same payment now buys about $662,000 of house, about 11% less, so homes are taking longer to sell.

Is Whatcom County a buyer's or seller's market right now?

It depends on the town, the neighborhood and the house; overall it's closer to balanced. Bellingham houses have under three months of supply and pending sales were up 18% in September 2026, while pending sales across Whatcom County fell about 15% (Northwest MLS).

Should I sell my home this fall or wait until spring?

It's a wash. Whatcom County homes for sale have dropped from September to December every year since at least 2016 (917 to 603 in 2025), so fall has less competition and more serious buyers. Spring has more buyers but more sellers too (686 homes for sale in April 2026, per Realtor.com). Sell when the time is right for your family.

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Tommy Mutchler | Realtor, Managing Broker @ Real Broker, LLC