Was August a Turning Point For the DC-Area Housing Market?

• September 14th 2021

by UrbanTurf Staff

The regional housing market in August showed signs that things might be returning to the more balanced market that existed before the pandemic. 

The latest report out from Bright MLS finds that pending home sales dropped across the board last month, a sign that in August, a month when homebuyers usually take a break from their search, buyers did just that. However, while sales and showings were down compared to a year ago, they were up noticeably compared to August 2019. 

"Recall that 12 months ago we were just coming out of lockdown, and households were beyond desperate to improve their housing situation," Dr. Elliot Eisenberg, Bright MLS Economist Advisor, told UrbanTurf. "As a result, it is not surprising to see pending sales slightly weaken. Inventories, while up, remain profoundly low and some semblance of seasonality seems to have returned as children are now more likely to be attending school in-person rather than remotely and so on."

One metric that is still on the rise in most area jurisdictions are home prices. The median home price in the DC area in August was $536,000, up 6.3% compared to a year ago and up 18% from August 2019. Prices rose in every local jurisdiction except for Arlington and Alexandria, with Falls Church and Frederick and Montgomery counties leading the way. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/was-august-a-turning-point-for-the-dc-area-housing-market/18695.