As Demand Cools in September, DC Area Home Prices Remain High

• October 9, 2012

by UrbanTurf Staff

A report out from RealEstate Business Intelligence today reveals what typically happens as summer becomes fall: the local housing market slows down.

Closed sales, new pending contracts, and median prices all declined between August and September, but it wasn’t exactly a slow month given Septembers of years past. The median price for the area is at its highest point for a September in five years, and the number of new contracts signed was at its highest level in three years.

Still, there were signs that things are slowing down after a busy couple months. The 20 percent decline in closed sales between August and September was the sharpest drop in five years, and while all property types — condos, townhouses and single-family homes — are reporting stronger sales than last year, the condo sector reported its slowest year-over-year sales growth in six months.

One thing that didn’t change this month was that a low inventory of homes is keeping prices high. The median sale price for the region is $360,000, up 6.5 percent over September 2011, but $25,000 less than last month (see seasonality trends). Prices rose the most in Falls Church (12.7 percent) and DC (9.9 percent), and fell the most in Arlington (-3.7 percent).

As for inventory, think slim pickings. There were 9,514 active listings in the region at the end of September, a 35.7 percent decline versus last year. The number of active listings is over 6,000 below the 10-year average for September.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/as_demand_cools_in_september_dc_area_home_prices_remain_high/6134