Home | Newsletter | Advertise
loading...

September Surge? Home Sales Pick Up In DC Area, But It May Not Last

  • October 10th 2024

by UrbanTurf Staff

✉️ Want to forward this article? Click here.

newark.jpg
A Cleveland Park home that went under contract in September.

Maybe it was falling interest rates or perhaps more homes hitting the market, but buyers in the DC region got off the sidelines last month. 

The latest report from Bright MLS out today finds that while closed home sales last month were on par with September 2023, the number of pending home sales (homes to go under contract) rose nearly 16% year-over-year. 

The increase in pending sales comes as buyer have more to choose from. Inventory has now increased for eight months in a row, with the supply of homes for sale 19% higher than a year ago.

market-stats.jpg
Courtesy of Bright MLS. Click to enlarge.

The increase in sales should be taken with a grain of salt. The sales pace in September last year was very slow, so a large increase was to be expected. And interest rates have already started heading back up in October, which will dampen sales. 

As far as hurdles facing buyers, home prices remain stubbornly high. The median home price increased nearly 9% compared to last year, coming in just below $600,000. 

"The biggest constraint in the Washington DC metro area is high prices," the report stated. "Affordability challenges will keep some buyers out of the market, particularly first-time homebuyers. However, more inventory will bring more options and should ease price growth."

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/september_surge_home_sales_pick_up_in_dc_area/22806.

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. Start browsing below!

First-Timer Primers

Intro guides for first-time home buyers

Red Flags Revealed During a Home Inspection Top 5 Tax Breaks For Homeowners Tax Relief for DC Homeowners
Condo Fee Tutorial What is a Rent Back? 10 Ways To Tell If a Home Renovation is Well Done
Obtaining a Basic Business License For Your Rental What is an Adjustable Rate Mortgage? The Splitting the Rent Formula
How Much Cash Do You Need to Buy a House? Is This Condo Building Financially Healthy? Interest Rates and Mortgage Points
The Scoop on Mortgage Insurance

Unique Spaces

Awesome and unusual real estate from across the DC Metro

The Most Intriguing Loft in DC The R Street Firehouse DC’s One-Room House
Dupont Circle’s Old Frat House To Become Alley Home Best Transition From a Garage To a Home The Roundhouse
Tilden Gardens Restaurant-Turned-Home Hits Market Next Week Logan Circle’s Most Intriguing Garage Frank Lloyd Wright Goes Green in Kensington
Sears Bungalow Gets a Modern Makeover Old Town General Store Becomes Three-Level Home Making the Most of a Skinny House
A Studio 27 Renovation on Capitol Hill Once a Carriage House, Now a Home The Bank that Became a Home
From Pie to Hooch to Heroin to Home The Live-Aboards of Gangplank Marina A Treehouse with Rock Creek Park As A Backyard
Modern Tranquility in Sperryville Saddle Up For Stable Living Throwing a Curve at 550 Square Feet
A Modern Hilltop Retreat Tilden Street Restaurant Becomes Spacious Home Focus on Design: A Vastu Unit at 22 West
The DC Area’s First Net Zero Home A Yankee Goes Green DC’s First Carbon Neutral Home
Eco-Friendly Alley House Off H Street The Gym, The Stables and The Firehouse