The week in review: August 24–28
The week of August 24–28 on seattletrendlines.com, in 10 posts.
Monday, August 24 — King County homes under contract, July 2026. 2,013 King County homes were under contract at the end of July 2026, down 17.0% from a year earlier. The count has run between 1,228 (January 2019) and 4,176 (June 2021).
Monday, August 24 — Seattle’s cruise business: from a 2020 shutdown to a record 1.9 million. The Port of Seattle carried a record 1.9 million cruise passengers in 2025 — up about 57% from its pre-pandemic 2019 level. Four years earlier, in 2020, the number was zero.
Tuesday, August 25 — King County’s electric fleet, July 2026. King County had 138,528 plug-in vehicles registered in July 2026. The split is the interesting part: 114,671 battery-electric cars, up 10.0% on the year, against 23,857 plug-in hybrids, up 1.8%.
Tuesday, August 25 — New listings per 10,000 King County residents, June 2026. King County sellers listed 2,940 homes in June 2026 — 13.3 per 10,000 county residents, up 1.9% on the year as a rate.
Wednesday, August 26 — What moves through the gateway, 2025. The Northwest Seaport Alliance moved 1,157,002 TEUs of full imports in 2025, down 10.3% on the year, against 605,126 TEUs of full exports and 656,406 TEUs of empty boxes.
Wednesday, August 26 — The river Seattle drinks, July 2026. The Cedar River ran at 342 cubic feet per second in July 2026, measured just above the Landsburg intake that supplies about two thirds of Seattle’s drinking water. That is what arrives, before the city takes its share.
Thursday, August 27 — What it costs to keep Seattle comfortable, 2025. Sea-Tac ran up 328 cooling degree days in 2025 and 4,254 heating degree days.
Thursday, August 27 — City and county, 1990 to 2026. Seattle had 823,400 residents on April 1, 2026, and King County 2,424,700. Since 1990 the city has grown 59% and the county 61%.
Friday, August 28 — Seattle building permits, July 2026. On a trailing 12-month basis, the Seattle metro permitted 20,712 housing units through July 2026, up 35.8% from a year earlier. This updates the permit slump; the 12-month sum smooths the monthly noise so the trend is the signal.
Friday, August 28 — Seattle’s crimes against society, June 2026. Seattle police recorded 645 crimes against society in June 2026, up 56.9% from a year earlier.
The week in review: every post from August 24–28, summarised from its own listing blurb and linked. Assembled each Saturday from the posts that actually published that week.