The Inventory Effect? DC Home Sales Drop 9 Percent in March

• April 11th 2018

by Nena Perry-Brown

Rising home prices and a lack of homes for sale seem to finally be affecting buyer demand in DC and the rest of the region. 

The March housing report from Bright MLS shows that the median home price in the DC region last month was $435,000, again hitting a decade-high for the month. This is a 3.6 percent ($15,000) increase from the previous record-setting median in March 2017. Last month was also the 18th month in a row in which prices have risen year-over-year.

In DC proper, home prices rose at a comparable clip, jumping 3.8 percent year-over-year from $535,000 to $555,451. However, these high prices are still coinciding with a continued pattern of there being fewer and fewer available listings for purchase.

There was a 7.6 percent drop in new listings regionwide in March compared to the previous year; in the District, 3.1 percent fewer listings were added, but total inventory fell by 9 percent versus the previous year.

The high prices and constrained supply are having an impact on sales volume, both regionally and in the city. Sales dropped 4.8 percent in the region last month, and in DC proper, sales dropped off by 9 percent. Alexandria was the only locality where the number of closed sales rose. 

"The drop in sales and contracts in March was driven by the lack of inventory," Andrew Strauch of Bright MLS told UrbanTurf. "Looking forward, new listings dropped by 3.1% in DC and 7.6% in the DC area, so tight inventory is with us for at least the next few months."

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/supply-and-closed-sales-both-down-9-percent-in-dc/13814.