DC Area Home Prices Rise 11.2 Percent

• May 10, 2012
• 7 Comments

by Shilpi Paul

Changes in DC Area Home Prices, By Region.

Home prices in the DC area rose in April. Significantly.

A report released today revealed that the median home price for the area in April was $371,500, 11.2 percent higher than one year ago. This is the largest gain for prices in over six years and marks the third consecutive month of annual increases. (Prices rose 7.8 percent in March.) In DC proper, prices rose 12.5 percent, from $399,000 to $449,000.

The report, from RealEstate Business Intelligence (RBI), outlined price increases for various property types in the region: Condo and co-op prices have risen 14.6 percent since April 2011 (the second month in a row that that property type value has risen by at least 14 percent), sales prices of detached properties rose 8.4 percent, and townhome prices increased by 9.4 percent. (Keep in mind that these statistics include the entire region noted below; for more granular statistics of specific zip codes or areas, click here.)

This morning’s RBI report also revealed just how low the inventory of active listings is in the area. The 3.2 month’s of active supply is one of the main forces putting upward pressure on prices. For only the second time in ten years, there were fewer new listings in April than in March. April’s 6,280 new listings marked a 14 percent decline when compared to April 2011.

While the number of newly listed foreclosures also remained relatively low, that may be changing. From the report:

The 348 newly listed foreclosures represented a 40.3 percent decrease compared to April 2011 and accounted for 5.5 percent of new listings, down from 8 percent in April 2011. This does represent a slight increase in the share of new listings in foreclosure compared to March (4.8 percent), worth keeping an eye on in the months ahead.

In related news, mortgage rates hit another record low of 3.83 percent this morning.

The area that RBI analyzes includes DC, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, Alexandria City, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Fairfax City, and Falls Church City.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dc_home_prices_rise_11.2_percent_in_april/5522

7 Comments

1. DV said at 3:05 pm on Thursday May 10, 2012:
   Does this reflect condos as well or only single-family housing?

1. Shilpi said at 3:36 pm on Thursday May 10, 2012:
   DV, Yes, the price increase covers all property types. You can find a breakdown by property type in the third paragraph. Shilpi

1. Eric said at 5:17 pm on Thursday May 10, 2012:
   This seems wrong, and I can't tell if these prices are derived from sales or from assessments. Unless prices are broken down by property types we can't get an idea of why, for example, MoCo looks so low. If, however, we knew that most of the properties these prices are based on were condos in MoCo, and SFH in Falls Church, we'd be able to better gauge the prices and the health of the different segments of the market.

1. K said at 5:20 pm on Thursday May 10, 2012:
   My husband and I were going to buy but the options are so limited! We decided to stay in our place and renovate with Capital Housecraft: www.capitalhousecraft.com

1. Mark Wellborn said at 5:32 pm on Thursday May 10, 2012:
   Eric, The prices are derived from the sales prices of homes across the region. RBI provides a wealth of granular data in their monthly reports, too much frankly for us to analyze in one article, which is why we provide a link to the reports that they publish on individual areas. To get a better sense of property prices and sales in Montgomery County by property type, you can go to this link (http://www.rbintel.com/statistics/montgomery-county-md) for reports that can be generated monthly, quarterly or annually. You can also do this for Falls Church. Hope this helps. Mark Wellborn Editor

1. jag said at 5:59 pm on Thursday May 10, 2012:
   Great info. Wow, for MoCo Condo/Coop sales prices are up a whooping 23% y/y, while detached house prices are up only a fraction of a percent (.12%). Very interesting and very clear what the economic engine of the county will be for the foreseeable future.

1. Contrarian said at 9:00 pm on Friday May 11, 2012:
   Is anyone else starting to see another bubble forming? This kind of outsize just doesn't seem sustainable. And if the last six years are any guide, it isn't.