At the June 2026 reading, ZIP 98107’s Zillow ZORI was $2,242 per month, up 0.6% from a year earlier. This is a ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, rather than a lease survey for a particular unit. The immediate tension is on the resale side: Redfin’s direct rolling-three-month ZIP observation put the median sold price at $835,061, down 4.6% year over year. Annualized ZORI divided by that sold-price median produces a 3.22% cross-source screening ratio only. It combines asking-rent and for-sale data, so it cannot describe the economics of an individual home.
The rent path has been positive but has slowed materially from its longer run. Exact same-month Zillow ZORI changes annualized to 0.6% over one year, 1.4% over three years, and 3.6% over five years. The recent direction therefore continues growth rather than reversing it, but does not match the pace of the five-year path. History coverage was complete across 124 observations and 123 consecutive monthly changes. Monthly ZORI movements, annualized, showed 2.6% variability, which supports more confidence in the current index than a highly erratic series would. Still, the historical peak-to-trough drawdown reached 11.3%, so a current rent snapshot should not be treated as a permanent level. Among history-eligible ZIPs, the transparent national discovery ranks were 2,047 for momentum and 830 for stability; those backward-looking ranks are descriptive, not forecasts.
Wider-area rent context is close but not interchangeable with ZIP evidence. Seattle city context rent was $2,224.13, King County context rent was $2,330, and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro context rent was $2,269; each figure belongs to its named wider geography rather than ZIP 98107. The ZIP asking-rent index sits slightly above the city figure but below the county and metro figures. These comparisons make the ZIP’s current ZORI less isolated within its broader context, yet they cannot substitute for ZIP-level supply, unit mix, or lease terms. City, county, and metro figures should remain context only, particularly where their rental composition differs from the ZIP index.
The local HUD ladder provides a transparent scaling device for bedroom estimates, not observations of bedroom-specific asking rents. Applying the ZIP ZORI level to the local HUD structure produces modelled monthly ZIP estimates of $1,859 for a studio, $1,924 for one bedroom, $2,242 for two bedrooms, $2,933 for three bedrooms, and $3,449 for four bedrooms. The ZIP index is 89.6% of the local HUD two-bedroom standard of $2,501. HUD fair-market-rent standards are administrative, bedroom-specific benchmarks and are not asking rents; the modelled ladder therefore should not be read as measured rents for available studio, one-bedroom, or larger units.
The ACS 2024 five-year matched Census ZCTA reported median gross rent of $2,208, slightly below the current ZIP ZORI. These are distinct evidence universes: ACS median gross rent is a survey measure for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities, while ZORI reflects typical observed asking rents. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. At a 30% rent-to-income screen, a $2,242 monthly asking-rent level arithmetically corresponds to $89,680 in annual income. The area’s ACS median household income was $142,662, but that all-household statistic does not establish a renter household’s income or an applicant’s qualification. Of 9,770 surveyed renter households, 3,618, or 37.0%, reported spending at least 30% of income on rent; burden is population evidence, not proof about a given unit.
Housing-stock evidence shows a renter-majority occupied base alongside measurable vacancy, without identifying the condition or availability of any particular home. The matched ACS ZCTA counted 16,938 housing units, including 15,835 occupied units and 1,103 vacant units, for a 6.5% vacancy rate. Renters represented 61.7% of occupied households. Those counts describe a five-year survey period rather than a current listing feed, and vacant status does not establish that a home is offered for rent, priced near ZORI, suitable for a given household, or available on a desired move date. The stock evidence is consequently useful for scale and tenure mix, but not as proof of immediate unit-level choice.
Redfin’s ZIP resale observation adds a different kind of tension: transaction pace and pricing signals were firmer than the year-over-year price change alone might suggest, while supply had expanded. In the rolling three-month ZIP window, 108 homes sold with a median 14 days on market; inventory was 118 homes and months of supply stood at 3.3. Average sale-to-list was 101.29%, 27.7% of sales closed above list, and 52.9% went off market within two weeks. These are direct for-sale-market measurements, not rental transactions or rental comparables. Fast marketing and above-list activity can coexist with the observed decline in median sold price, challenging any simple reading that the stable rent history and current affordability screen point in the same direction as resale prices.
The evidence supports comparison, not a conclusion about a specific property. ZORI does not reveal concessions, utilities, furnishing, building condition, lease duration, or the exact bedroom mix behind an asking-rent index. ACS burden and vacancy measures are survey aggregates, while the Redfin figures summarize completed resale activity over a rolling period. Useful property-level checks include the current listing’s asking rent and change history, lease term, concessions, utility responsibilities, bedroom and bathroom count, unit condition, current competing listings, and whether the sale evidence refers to a comparable property type. The key unresolved question is whether a particular available unit’s terms resemble the broad ZIP rent index more closely than its own active-market competition.
","findings":[{"body":"ZIP 98107’s current Zillow ZORI was $2,242 in June 2026, with 0.6% exact same-month annualized growth over one year. The three-year and five-year growth rates were higher, indicating that current growth continues the prior upward direction but at a reduced pace. Complete history coverage and relatively contained variability improve confidence in the index, while the prior drawdown cautions against treating one observation as fixed.","title":"Rent growth remains positive but slower"},{"body":"The 30% arithmetic screen converts the ZIP asking-rent index into an annual income benchmark of $89,680. It is not advice and does not determine an applicant’s eligibility. ACS median gross rent, household income, and rent-burden measures are survey statistics for the matched ZCTA, including occupied renter households; they should not be interpreted as the finances, utility costs, or rent burden of a particular available unit.","title":"Affordability metrics answer different questions"},{"body":"Redfin’s direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale evidence showed a declining median sold price year over year, even as homes sold quickly and average sale-to-list exceeded 100%. That mix complicates a simple interpretation of either strength or weakness. It also remains wholly separate from rent evidence: sold prices, inventory, and marketing time describe the for-sale market, not rental transaction values or lease-market conditions.","title":"Resale liquidity contrasts with weaker annual pricing"},{"body":"The studio-through-four-bedroom figures are modelled ZIP estimates created by scaling Zillow ZORI with the local HUD bedroom ladder. They provide a consistent way to compare bedroom tiers, but they are not measured asking rents, lease transactions, or unit-specific quotations. HUD standards are administrative benchmarks, so differences between the modelled estimates and live listings may reflect property type, condition, utilities, concessions, and lease structure.","title":"Bedroom figures are scaled estimates"}],"risks":["A current Zillow ZORI reading is a blended asking-rent index across rental types, so it may not match the asking price, concession package, utility treatment, or condition of any specific available unit.","The matched Census ZCTA is a statistical geography rather than an identical USPS delivery ZIP, and its ACS five-year survey measures may differ from current ZIP listing conditions or household circumstances.","Rent-burden and vacancy statistics are aggregate survey evidence; neither establishes that a particular vacant home is rentable, affordable, available immediately, or representative of current asking-rent competition.","The resale screen combines annualized asking-rent index data with median sold-price data from a separate for-sale observation, leaving property-level costs, financing, taxes, maintenance, and comparability unmeasured."],"qa":[{"a":"Zillow ZORI is a ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. ACS median gross rent is a matched ZCTA five-year survey statistic for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. They measure different populations, time structures, and rent concepts, so a difference does not indicate an error or prove that current listings are mispriced.","q":"Why does the Zillow rent figure differ from ACS median gross rent?"},{"a":"No. The bedroom figures are modelled monthly ZIP estimates created by scaling the current ZIP ZORI with the local HUD bedroom ladder. HUD fair-market-rent standards are administrative and bedroom-specific, not observed asking rents. The estimates help compare relative bedroom tiers, but they cannot replace checking live listings, utility obligations, concessions, property type, and unit condition.","q":"Are the bedroom rent figures observed rents for available apartments?"},{"a":"It is a mechanical calculation using the current monthly ZIP asking-rent index and a 30% income share. The result is an annual income screen, not a recommendation, underwriting rule, or applicant qualification standard. Actual affordability can differ because household income, utilities, lease terms, concessions, debts, savings, and the rent of a specific unit are not captured by this arithmetic.","q":"What does the 30% required-income figure mean?"},{"a":"They should be read as direct rolling-three-month ZIP for-sale evidence only. Median sold price, sales pace, inventory, months of supply, and sale-to-list measures describe resale transactions rather than rental transactions. Dividing annualized ZORI by the median sold price is only a cross-source screening ratio; it does not capture the characteristics or financial details of an individual property.","q":"How should the Redfin resale metrics be used alongside the rent data?"}],"sources":[{"key":"apartment_list_time_on_market","name":"Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/category/data-rent-estimates"},{"key":"apartment_list_vacancy","name":"Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/apartment-list-vacancy-index-methodology"},{"key":"census_zcta_facts","name":"Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income","release":"ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs5.html"},{"key":"hud_zip","name":"HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — 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