Are These The Most Competitive Housing Markets in the DC Area?

• May 26th 2023

by UrbanTurf Staff

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Last Friday, UrbanTurf ran an article that looked at two DC zip codes that have very competitive housing markets despite the recent slowdown in the region. Today, we take a more granular look at the neighborhoods where homebuyers are likely facing the most competition this year.

UrbanTurf uses a few metrics to determine competition level. First, we look at the year-to-date ratios of average sold price to original listing price for homes. The baseline ratio is 100%, so any average above that is an indication that homes are selling at a premium. The second metric we look at is housing inventory, as a low supply of homes breeds more competition.

And the last statistic we analyze is contract ratio, which compares the total number of homes under contract in a given period to the overall number of active listings. A higher ratio signifies an increase in contracts compared to supply. For example, a ratio of 2.0 means there are two listings under contract for every listing that is active.

In line with last week's article, a handful of neighborhoods filled with single-family homes in the DC zip codes of 20015 and 20016 make our list. Most listings in AU Park and Chevy Chase DC are selling for above asking price, and the same goes for Spring Valley, even with a median home price in the neighborhood of well north of $2 million. 

North Cleveland Park tucked away off Reno Road is perennially one of the most competitive, and in 2023 that did not change. The bungalows and Cape Cods of Takoma Park attract hoards of buyers making this Maryland city a place where multiple bids and escalation clauses are common. 

The Bethesda zip code of 20816 -- home to portions of Brookmont, Wood Acres and Glen Echo -- rounds out the list. 

Photo courtesy of Carlo Russo from HDBros.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/are_these_the_most_competitive_housing_markets_in_the_dc_area/21065.