What's spooky about the Seattle market this week

Seattle this week

• Saturday, October 17

  Diwali Community Celebration

  Cultural celebration at Seattle Asian Art Museum

  Details →

• October 17-18

  Water Lantern Festival

  Lantern floating event at Seward Park

  Details →

  

• Weekends, October 16 to November 1

  Stalker Farms

  Haunted farm with four walk-through attractions in Snohomish

  Details →

  

Mortgage rates

Source: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, week of 2026-10-08. National averages, so your rate depends on your situation.

Market snapshot

Source: Zillow Research (median sale price, King County single-family homes).

Catch the drift

The time Seattle washed a hill into the bay

Belltown used to sit under Denny Hill. Starting in 1898, the city decided the hill was in the way, and over the next thirty years crews blasted it with high-pressure water and sluiced the dirt down into Elliott Bay.

Some owners refused to sell, so for a while their houses perched on dirt towers while the hill disappeared around them. People called them spite mounds. The flat streets you walk downtown today, from Second Avenue up toward Denny Way, are the result.

Next time you are crossing Belltown without breaking a sweat, thank a fire hose.