What's Hot: DC Has the Most Cranes in the Sky of Any U.S. City | The 7 DC Neighborhoods Where You Aren't The Only Person Bidding on a Home
DC’s Six-Year Supply Problem
The well-documented shortage of homes for sale in the District has been a thorn in the side of homebuyers for some time. But just how long the shortage has been going on may surprise some people.
The benchmark of a balanced housing market is usually a six-month supply of homes on the market. The inventory of active listings for sale in the District has been below the six-month level since July 2009.
In the last few years, that shortage has become more acute. The inventory of homes for sale in the city has been south of three months since July 2012; since late 2014, the inventory has not risen above two months.
story continues below
loading...story continues above
The reason for this shortage has little to do with a lack of listings hitting the market. June marked the 18th month in a row that housing inventories rose in the area, and new listings were at the highest level for June since 2007.
Rather, the culprit is buyer demand, which remains very high. For virtually all of 2015, there has, on average, been more than one pending contract per active listing in the city.
“Buyers have pushed up demand for DC real estate for several reasons: fast rising rents, increases in household formations, relatively strong incomes (especially two income families) and historical low mortgage rates,” John Heithaus of RealEstate Business Intelligence told UrbanTurf. “Based on these factors and assuming no change in the economic drivers impacting real estate, we expect the shortfall between supply and demand to continue which should push prices higher.”
See other articles related to: inventory, dc housing prices, dc housing inventory
This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dcs_six-year_supply_problem/10140
Most Popular... This Week • Last 30 Days • Ever

UrbanTurf has compiled virtual looks at large new developments around the DC region.... read »

The 1.5 million additional square feet of development along the Washington Channel is... read »

The Q1 2021 crane count shows DC in the lead.... read »

A zoning hearing is scheduled for later this month.... read »

UrbanTurf looks at one of our favorite metrics regarding competition in the housing m... read »
DC Real Estate Guides
Short guides to navigating the DC-area real estate market
We've collected all our helpful guides for buying, selling and renting in and around Washington, DC in one place. Visit guides.urbanturf.com or start browsing below!
First-Timer Primers
Intro guides for first-time home buyers
Unique Spaces
Awesome and unusual real estate from across the DC Metro
1 Comment