Bainbridge Island in Kitsap County includes Port Madison, Rolling Bay, and dozens of other small communities, as well as the historic town of Winslow. The island’s Bainbridge High School and Eagle Harbor High School are both ranked among the top public high schools in the state by U.S. News & World Report. The population has held relatively steady at just over 23,000 since 2010.86 Despite its proximity to Seattle by ferry, Bainbridge Island’s 27.6 square miles available as living space render a population density of only 847 persons per square mile (psm). This is 59 percent less concentrated than Tiburon in California’s San Francisco Bay Area (2,065 psm), and even 39 percent less dense than Anacortes in Skagit County (1,388 psm). Accordingly, 80.8 percent of Bainbridge Island’s housing stock remains single family. The island has been a seller’s market since October 2014, and monthly supply spent most of 2015 below two months. The months in inventory averaged 2.1 in 2015, 2.8 in 2014, and 3.5 in 2013.
As in many other exurban locations, prices tend to be more volatile on Bainbridge Island, as seen in these charts. Yet here again, the island benefits as a bedroom community to Seattle: the median price rose by double digits in each of the past two years, and in 2015 was 137.9 percent higher than the Kitsap County median. In 2014, seller price concessions were more common on Bainbridge Island than later in the past year, underscoring the need for a comparative market analysis and professional guidance when pricing a property for sale.