Burien, WA real estate
Buying or selling a home, condo, or piece of land in Burien? Here is what the city's housing actually looks like, and how to reach Isaac Ortiz about it.
Burien housing snapshot
| Population | 51,331 | |
|---|---|---|
| Median home value | $609,300 | Owner-reported |
| Median household income | $90,597 | |
| Detached houses | 59.6% | Share of all housing units |
| Townhomes / attached | 2.8% | |
| In buildings of 2+ units | 37.1% | Condos and apartments alike |
| Manufactured homes | 0.6% | |
| Owner-occupied | 56.9% | |
| Median year built | 1965 | |
| Vacancy rate | 6.3% |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (2019–2023). Tables B25077, B01003, B25003, B25024, B25035, B19013, B25002. This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
What the numbers mean for a buyer or seller
The median owner-reported home value in Burien is $609,300.
That is 25% below the King County median of $811,200. Median household income is $90,597, 26% below the county's $122,148.
Burien's housing is genuinely mixed - 59.6% detached houses, 37.1% in multi-unit buildings, and 2.8% attached single-family such as townhomes. Both house and attached-home stock exist here in real numbers.
56.9% of occupied homes are owner-occupied - a fairly even ownership-to-rental split.
Half of Burien's homes were built in 1965 or earlier, so a large share predates modern energy codes - worth leaving time in the inspection for the roof, the electrical, and the plumbing.
Burien is 51,331 people, with enough turnover that recent comparable sales are rarely the constraint. Vacancy sits at 6.3%.
Selling in Burien
Burien runs close to an even split - 56.9% of occupied homes are owner-occupied - so your buyer could as easily be a family moving in as someone buying to rent it out. Pricing and presentation have to work for both.
For pricing context, the midpoint of Burien homes is $609,300, and the area sits about 2.3 miles off the Seattle-Bellevue-Tacoma spine - usually the first thing a buyer's agent checks when they push back on a list price.
Half the homes here were built in 1965 or earlier, so buyers and their inspectors arrive expecting questions about the roof, the electrical and the sewer line. Knowing those answers before you list is usually worth more than fixing them mid-negotiation.
Isaac will tell you what your home is actually likely to bring in Burien and what, if anything, is worth doing first. If the honest answer is that this is not your year to sell, he will say that too.
Talk to Isaac Ortiz about Burien
Isaac Ortiz is a licensed real estate broker with Compass, working King County and the surrounding Puget Sound area. Se habla español. Send a note and he will reply personally.
Email Isaac.Ortiz@nwret.com.