A Slow Month For DC Real Estate? Not In This Market

• September 11th 2020

by UrbanTurf Staff

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The story in the DC area real estate market in recent months has been the same: record low interest rates are spurring homebuyer demand in a supply-starved market, pushing competition and prices to new heights. August, typically the slowest month of the year for the market, was no different. 

Home prices in the DC region hit their highest level for the month of August in a decade, according to a report out today from MarketStats by ShowingTime, but buyers were undeterred: pending home sales rose almost 25% compared to last August. 

Home prices were at decade-highs for every property type in the region. The median home price in DC was $648,000, just below the all-time record set in May. Townhomes on Capitol Hill fetched prices 24% higher than a year ago. In Prince George's County, prices rose 15% to a ten-year high. 

The increase in pending home sales across the region was staggering for the end of the summer. Home sales rose 38% in DC, 44% in Alexandria and 51% in Arlington. Overall, there were 6,050 pending sales in the DC area in August, outpacing the 10-year average by roughly 1,300 monthly sales. 

Homes were not just selling, they were flying off the market. The days on market metric for the region was seven, the lowest level on record for the month. There was no jurisdiction in the area where, on median, homes were spending more than nine days on the market. 

If you thought that the statistics above would push prospective home sellers to enter the market, you would be correct. New listings shot up 44% year-over-year in DC, 60% in Arlington and 74% in Alexandria. However, the rise in new listings couldn't offset demand. There was a 1.3-month supply of homes on the market in August, down 30% from a year ago. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/a-slow-month-for-dc-real-estate-not-in-this-market/17273.