DC Area Home Prices Plateau in October Despite Continued Demand

• November 10th 2016

by Nena Perry-Brown

The housing market in the DC area is continuing the path that it has been in on all fall, as continued buyer demand results in a drop in inventory, while prices remain flat year-over-year.

The October MRIS analysis of the regional market shows several factors that indicate high demand: homes are spending fewer days on the market, fewer listings are coming on, and sales levels for the month of October are at the highest level in seven years. Closed sales in October came in at 3,970, 2.6 percent higher than October 2015.

The flat prices regionwide — October’s median sales price of $400,000 is only a 0.3 percent increase over last October’s price — are likely the result of price appreciation and depreciation by sub-market. For example, prices rose year-over-year in DC proper and Montgomery County, by 5.6 percent and 3.7 percent respectively, but fell in Arlington County by almost 9 percent.

As has been the case for years, inventory remains the story in the DC area. October’s 10,393 active listings is an 18 percent drop from last year and 6.4 percent less than last month. A double-digit drop in the number of listings was consistent across all housing types.

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 https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/prices_plateau_in_oct_despite_contd_demand/11881.