The 6 DC Neighborhoods Where You Paid Above Asking in 2018

• December 10th 2018

by Nena Perry-Brown

The housing market in the District has been a mixed bag this year, with slight increases in inventory being offset by generally healthy demand and steady price growth.

In a balanced market, prospective homebuyers should be able to purchase a home at or slightly below its listing price. In competitive markets, however, those would-be buyers will likely have to engage in bidding wars or make offers above a home's asking price in order to close the deal.

2018 may be remembered as the year that high competition in some of the pricier and more popular DC neighborhoods resulted in buyers searching elsewhere in the city. Here are the six DC neighborhoods where stiff competition meant you probably paid above asking price in 2018.

Barry Farms is a notable and strong leader of the competitive pack, with the average sales price to listing price ratio increasing a full 10 percent year-over-year to top the list at 102 percent. Even more impressively, the median price in the neighborhood increased by nearly 42 percent, although the neighborhood still maintains its relative affordability.

Randle Heights comes in second, with the average listing selling for 101.5 percent of asking price. However, the median price here dropped by almost 8 percent, and the neighborhood wasn't alone in this metric dropping. In both the U Street Corridor and Fort Lincoln, where the average listing in each is selling for roughly 101 percent of asking price, prices went down by a respective 1.62 and 0.85 percent.

The Shepherd Park and Takoma neighborhoods, which share a border, each drew increased attention from buyers such that prices went up by a solid 3.2 and 2 percent, respectively; homes in each also sold for an average of about 101 percent of asking price.

Data for this article was sourced from Bright MLS based on year-to-date figures for legal subdivisions with at least 20 home sales through October 2018, unless otherwise indicated.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the-6-dc-neighborhoods-where-you-paid-above-asking-in-2018/14776.