The Big Shortage: The DC Area's Inventory of Homes For Sale Plummeted in January

• February 14th

by UrbanTurf Staff

The DC area's housing supply hit a new low last month

The inventory of listings on the market in the region fell 43% compared to last January, according to a new report out today from Bright MLS. The supply of single-family homes fell to just 12 days. What that means is that if no new single-family listings hit the market, the supply of this property type would drop to zero in less than two weeks.

"Buyers will face unprecedented challenges in the coming months," the report stated. "Active inventory fell to a decade low, the first time on record that volume fell under 4,000 units at the end of the month."

The low supply of homes for sale is being reflected in other metrics. Closed sales were down 13% year-over-year and pending sales fell 10%, however those declines are a little deceiving as sales last January were at an all-time high.

Part of the inventory problem is being driven by a lack of new listings coming on the market. The number of new listings in the region fell 18% compared to last year. One thing that did rise last month was home prices, another issue facing buyers. 

"Although prices increased seasonally, limited inventory levels continued to fuel the rising costs and provided little relief for bargain-hunting buyers," the report stated. "Available inventory continued to narrow as the tight supply continued to push buyers to pay the full asking price."

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the-big-shortage-dc-areas-inventory-of-homes-for-sale-got-plummeted-in-janu/19268.