Washington Region a Seller's Market

The Washington, D.C., region “is a seller’s market,” reports Where We Live, The Washington Post’s real estate blog. “Housing prices are going up, days on the market are going down, and the scarcity of houses for sale indicates that the Washington region is a seller’s market,” wrote Kathy Orton, blogger for The Post. The assessment comes from a report by RealEstate Business Intelligence and the GMU Center for Regional Analysis on January housing data. “Yet, homeowners remain reluctant to put their homes up for sale. The number of new listings in January was the lowest for that month in 15 years,” Orton notes.

She proposed several theories to explain why so few homeowners are putting their homes on the market. “Many are underwater on their mortgages and can’t afford to sell. Others are worried about finding something to buy after they sell. And some are concerned about how the pending federal budget cuts might affect them and don’t want to undertake a large purchase because of that uncertainty.” The Washington region’s median sales price continues to increase compared to last year, she points out. “It climbed to $343,200, which was up 10.7 percent from January 2012, the fourth consecutive month it has shown a double-digit increase. However, it was down 4.4 percent from December, which is typical for this time of year.”  The median price for townhomes rose 13.3 percent over last year, condos climbed 13 percent, and single-family houses rose 3.8 percent.

Orton breaks down the numbers:

Sales of single-family houses had the biggest gain, up 8.8 percent. Sales of condos rose 5.4 percent, while townhouses were up 3.9 percent. This is the first time since March that single-family houses led the other two property types.
Active listings fell by more than 4,000 from January 2012 to 6,049. Townhouses are in the shortest supply, accounting for only 16.2 percent of listings. This is the lowest on record for this property type in the region dating back to 1997. There were 4,004 new listings in January, down 4.2 percent year-over-year.

She adds that the median of the number of days properties are on the market has fallen to 32 days, 25 days fewer than January 2012. An inventory shortage is driving this number down.
As always, please contact me, Mynor Herrera, for expert advice on everything real estate. I am licensed in D.C., Md., and Va., and I specialize in Bethesda and Chevy Chase, as well as the subdivisions of Rosemary Hills, Rock Creek Forest, East Bethesda and Whitehall Condominium.