How the DC Housing Market Changed Since the Great Recession

• September 14, 2018

by Nena Perry-Brown

The Great Recession that began in September 2008 and battered housing markets across the country resulted in damage that would be felt for years. While the DC area market was more insulated from the effects of the recession than other areas, it didn't emerge unscathed. Today, UrbanTurf takes a look at how the market in DC proper has fared since bottoming out less than a decade ago.

As illustrated in the table above, virtually every major market metric has changed significantly since August 2009.

The number of active listings in DC dropped precipitously between August 2009 and August 2018. Nine year ago, prospective homebuyers had more than twice as many listings on the market to choose from than homebuyers in August 2018, yet 26 percent fewer home purchases were being made.

Homes are now selling significantly faster than they were back in the throes of the downturn. Listings in August 2018 spent a median of less than two weeks on the market before going under contract compared to a median of 38 days in August 2009.

The starkest change over the last nine years, however, has been with home prices, which have risen dramatically. Both sales and listing prices have risen more than 50 percent since August 2009. The median sales price of $365,000 nine years ago was affordable by regional standards, 53 percent lower than the current median price of $560,000. The price per square foot has risen at a comparable rate, rising more than 55 percent from $356 per square foot to $553.

Thumbnail image courtesy of Ted Eytan.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/how-the-dc-housing-market-changed-since-the-great-recession/14438