Bethesda: A Sit-It-Out Market

• June 9th 2021

by Stephanie Shipman

The housing market in Bethesda is so competitive that some real estate agents are telling their buyer clients to hold off on wading into the market.

Melinda Estridge of Long & Foster is advising some buyers to wait either because they might not have the cash to compete in a multiple offer situation or because the buyer is having trouble coming to grips with buying a property over its market value.

“Unless buyers are planning to stay in Bethesda for five to ten years, chances are the home most people buy now won’t hold its value,” Estridge told UrbanTurf.

Agents that UrbanTurf spoke with described the market competition in Bethesda as “unbelievable” at certain price points.

“Under $1 million, if a house is in good condition and not on a busy street, it will get a lot of action,” says Jane Fairweather, agent and founder of The Jane Fairweather Team. “I’ve seen homes like that in the neighborhood go up to about $1.3 million.”

Compared to other neighborhoods in the DC region, Bethesda has a decent supply of homes for sale, but because of demand, those listings are often sold just as quickly as they hit the market. The median days on market in Bethesda is currently six days.

It’s typically first-time buyers who might be scared away by this type of ultra-competitive market, but millennials appear to be adding to the competition and making concerted efforts to buy a home in Bethesda, whether that’s a condo or their first single-family home they can grow into.

“The millennials are now driving the market in Bethesda, more than the baby boomers,” Fairweather says.

Here are some of the more interesting stats on the market:

• 145 -- The number of closed sales in Bethesda in April 2021, up 33% month over month. Bethesda had 160 active listings in the same month
• 1.4 months -- The amount of supply in the neighborhood in April
• $1.53 million -- The average sales price for a detached home with 4+ bedrooms. 
• 101.6% -- The average sales price to original list price ratio in Bethesda in 2021.

Similar Posts:

• Crestwood: The Demand is "Like a Tsunami"
• The Sky High Demand on Capitol Hill
• Georgetown: The Competition is Back
• Chevy Chase: The Seller's Market
• Mount Pleasant: No Longer Undervalued
• Del Ray: 5 Days or Less
• Logan Circle: Standard Competition 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/bethesda-a-sit-it-out-market/18363.