The DC Housing Market Was Firing on All Cylinders in April

• May 10th 2018

by Nena Perry-Brown

If the last few months were sending mixed signals about the regional housing market, April was a bit of a statement month.

From record closed sales to rising prices to homes spending little time on the market, metrics pointed to a market firing on all cylinders, albeit a market that continues to favor the home seller. However, there are early signs things may be turning back in favor of the buyer. 

The latest report by ShowingTime, using Bright MLS data, shows that median home prices in the region hit a decade high of $450,000 in April, a 3 percent year-over-year increase and the 19th consecutive month that prices have risen. In DC proper, prices increased almost 14 percent to $590,000, $9,000 shy of the record for the city, but this was largely due to a 35 percent increase in the number of detached homes sold in April compared to a year ago. 

Despite a low inventory of homes for sale, home buyers were still out in force. There were 5.2 percent more closed sales in the region in April, hitting a decade-high for the month of 4,837 sales; in the District, the volume of closed sales rose by 9.4 percent year-over-year.

Listings in the metro area have also been selling at a swift pace. Homes in April spent a decade-low nine days on the market on median, and the days on market metric dropped in almost every jurisdiction, including to just eight days in DC. The average sales price to original listing price ratio was just below 100 percent across the metro area, charting at 99.9 percent in both DC and Fairfax City, meaning that home sellers were getting their asking price or more in many markets.

While the supply of active listings remains historically low, down 9.4 percent throughout the region and 3.2 percent in DC proper, there is a glimmer of relief for frustrated buyers. The volume of new listings in April rose 8.5 percent year-over-year and was up more than 17 percent in DC proper.

"It is a seller's market clear and simple, but we haven't seen that type of new listing increase in quite some time," Andrew Strauch of Bright MLS told UrbanTurf. "While we are a ways from returning to a buyer's market, if this listing activity keeps up, we should see more choices for buyers in the coming months."

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the-dc-housing-market-was-firing-on-all-cylinders-in-april/13960.