Buyer's Market? DC's Supply of Homes For Sale Rises For Second Month in a Row

• August 10th 2017

by Nena Perry-Brown

The DC area housing market has largely followed the same trajectory over the past year when it comes to the supply of homes for sale, and July was no exception, with area-wide inventory levels declining by six percent — the 15th straight month of inventory decreases.

However, the housing market in the District is continuing to show signs of returning to a balanced market. The July report by Brightly MLS out today shows that not only have new listings increased in the District, but total inventory is also up by nearly 8 percent. This marks the second consecutive month that inventory has increased in DC proper.

The only other jurisdiction in the area where inventory increased in July was Prince George’s County, although PG’s reputation as one of the area’s most affordable localities seems to be garnering more attention from buyers. Listings in the county spent fewer days on the market in July, sold for a higher proportion of listing price, and saw the largest price appreciation of any other jurisdiction in the area this year, increasing by 10 percent since January. The median sales price for the whole region in July was $439,000 — a ten-year high for the month. Meanwhile, prices in DC proper, at $570,000, didn’t budge from year-over-year.

So, is DC headed back towards a more balanced housing market? Not quite yet. The months of supply of homes on the market in the city sits at just above two months, still a long way from the six-month benchmark that indicates a balanced market. Another telling statistic is contract ratio or the total number of listings under contract at the end of the month compared to the number of active listings. Right now, this ratio sits around 1.0, which means that for almost every active listing in July, a home went under contract.

Data was provided by MarketStats by ShowingTime based on listing activity from Bright MLS.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dcs_supply_of_homes_for_sale_rises_for_second_month_in_a_row/12895.