DC Area Home Sales Reach 10-Year High For September as Prices Plateau

• October 11, 2016

by Nena Perry-Brown

A Chevy Chase DC home that sold in September.

While buyer demand has not cooled off in the DC area housing market, prices began to stagnate in September as inventory levels fell for the fifth month in a row.

The September report from RealEstate Business Intelligence reveals that 4,183 home sales closed in the region in September, a ten-year high for the month.

However while sales volume points to a robust market, there are other metrics, including inventory and prices, that have gone negative or plateaued in the last year. For example, the active inventory of homes for sale has fallen 14.3 percent since last September, and last month marked the fifth month in a row that inventory had fallen. New listings were down 1.5 percent year-over-year but up 23 percent compared to last month.

Meanwhile, the median sales price is virtually unchanged since last September — $399,900 compared to $400,000. However, there are two things to note here: 1) The September 2015 price was the highest on record for the region and 2) $399,900 is 23 percent higher than the September low of the housing crisis ($330,000) in 2009.

Data provided by ShowingTime RBI based on listing activity from MRIS. RBI defines the DC metropolitan area as including: Washington, D.C.; Montgomery County and Prince George’s County in Maryland; and Alexandria City, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Fairfax City, and Falls Church City in Virginia.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dc_area_closed_sales_reach_10-year_high_as_prices_and_listings_down/11773