For the past four months, the DC housing market has been an outlier in the region, clocking four consecutive months in which the median sales price dropped and inventory rose. However, October market data in some ways proves that that particular dynamic was more of an anomaly than an indicator.
The median sales price in the District in October came in at $550,000, 1.3 percent higher than the $543,000 seen in October 2016, according to the latest report from Bright MLS. Increased prices didn’t do much to deter buyers, with closed sales in the city rising 32 percent compared to a year ago.
Year-over-year inventory increases in the region
The greater DC area, which hasn’t slowed down much at all in the past year, stayed on that trajectory. Median sales prices in the region were up 3.3 percent to $413,125, the highest October price of the decade and closed sales came in at 4,320, up 8.8 percent compared to October 2016. Sales volume across the DC area was more than $2.2 billion, up 12.8 percent from last year.
One thing from the report that will likely make homebuyers in DC happy is that inventory continues to increase from the epic drought of the past couple years. The inventory of new listings in the District rose by 18.9 percent year-over-year. DC also led the region in overall year-over-year inventory increases, going up by 16 percent to a total of 1,595 active listings at the end of the month.
“Year to date, prices are up only 0.9 percent in D.C. due to growing inventory, increased mortgage rates and stronger price increases over the last few years,” notes Andrew Strauch, Vice President at Bright MLS. “Thus, sellers are coming into the market as prices flatten and buyers are purchasing as they find the right home at the right price. Looking forward, we can expect prices to continue to increase moderately over the next year as the tight inventory grows.”