Data as of August 4, 2022
Washington Metro Market Key Findings
Slowest Price Growth in More than 2 Years
The median sales price in the Washington metro area was nearly $563,000, rising 2.3% compared to last year at this time. This is the lowest year-over-year price gain since June 2020 and is the result of higher mortgage rates and growing affordability challenges in the region. Despite this month’s lowest price growth, the median price in the Washington area is still nearly $50,000 higher than it was two years ago.
Buyer activity continues to ease through the summer with new pending sales down 27.0% compared to a year ago, the lowest July figure since 2014. The number of showings in the region also continues to slow. Homes are remaining on the market slightly longer with a cooling of the frenzied competition of the past two years.
Fewer new pending sales have led to the first year-over-year inventory increase in the Washington metro area, with 15.6% more active listings at the end of July than there were a year ago. Despite the inventory expansion, there is still just 1.32 months of supply in the Washington metro area housing market.
Bright MLS T3 Home Demand Index
According to the Bright MLS T3 Home Demand Index (HDI), buyer demand continues to track lower this summer. The HDI for the Washington metro area was 110 in July (Moderate), down from 123 a year ago (Moderate) and from June (120).
Buyer demand has tracked lower this month for all housing types in the region, with the biggest month-to-month decline reported for higher price single-family homes.
Market Outlook
Home sales activity began declining earlier in 2022 in the Washington metro before either the Baltimore or Philadelphia markets.Affordability challenges have had a bigger impact on the market in the region, where high home prices shut buyers out of the market earlier in the housing market cycle. Expect home sales activity to continue to slow and inventory to expand further in the coming months. Prices will continue to rise in most local markets, though the pace of price growth will be much lower than it has been over the past two years.
Closed Sales Year-Over-Year Change
Home sales have declined year-over-year for eight consecutive months in the Washington metro area. In July, there were 5,456 sales, a 26.6% decline compared to a year earlier. The steepest decline in home sales activity was among attached/townhomes (-30.0%) followed by single-family detached homes (-26.6%) and condominiums (-23.1%).
Median Sales Price Year-Over-Year Change
Price growth has slowed notably in the Washington metro area. In July, the median sales price was $562,766, a 2.3% increase over a year ago. The pace of price appreciation has been slowing for several months, but the median sales price in the region is still more than $50,000 higher than it was in July 2020. Single-family detached home prices were up most quickly (+6.4%) while the median condo price fell slightly (-1.4%).
Median Days on Market
The median days on market was 8 in July in the Washington metro area, which is 1 day longer than in both July 2021 and June 2022. The increase in median days on market reflects cooler buyer activity in the region.
New Pending Sales Year-Over-Year Change
New pending sales have declined for five consecutive months in the Washington region. In July, the number of new pending sales was down 27.0% compared to July 2021. The decline in new pendings between June and July was sharper than it is in more typical years. The biggest decline in new pendings was among attached/townhomes, where the number of new pending sales was down 32.7% compared to a year ago.
Active Listings Year-Over-Year Change
Inventory was up sharply in July in the Washington metro area. At the end of July, there was a total of 8,101 active listings across the region, which is up 15.6% compared to a year ago. The inventory of single-family detached homes (+32.5%) and attached/townhomes (+34.1%)increased significantly, though condo inventory declined in July.
Showings Year-Over-Year Change
Showings were down significantly in July across the Washington DC region. In July, there were 111,837 showings region wide, which is down 31.5% compared to a year ago and a 10.6% drop from June.
Local Markets
While the market continues to decelerate, there is a lot of variation across the Washington area housing market. The number of pending sales fell in all local markets in the region, but the steepest year-over-year decline was in Loudoun County, VA (-40.6%).
Inventory has also increased significantly in Loudoun County, with the number of month-end active listings up 46.7%. Supply also surged in Prince George’s County, MD (+52.3%), Frederick County, MD (+21.8%), and Washington, DC (+19.6%).
Across the region, inventory is expanding largely because of the pullback in new purchase activity. Washington, DC is the only local market where the number of new listings is up compared to a year ago (+1.0%).
Prices are up in most places, but there are some local markets where the median price in July was lower than last year, including Alexandria City (-17.1%) and Washington, DC (-1.1%).
Homes Staying on the Market Longer
Homes continue to sell relatively quickly in the Washington metro area, but there has been a noticeable jump in the median days on market in some places.
In July, the median days on market in Washington, DC was 15, which is 4 days longer than a year ago. The median days on market rose by 3 days in Loudoun County.
Despite these increases, the median days on market is still lower than before the pandemic.
Data provided by Bright MLS.
Bright MLS T3 Home Demand Index
The Home Demand Index captures buyer signals including showing requests, listing views and more to let you know what buyers are doing right now, before they buy. The Home Demand Index was created as part of our strategy to create a nimbler and more innovative MLS platform that drives your business forward.
Read More about the HDI at homedemandindex.com
About Bright MLS
Bright is proud to be the source of truth for comprehensive real estate data in the Mid-Atlantic, with market intelligence currently covering six states (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia) and the District of Columbia. Bright MLS’s innovative tool library—both created and curated—provides services and award-winning support to well over 100k real estate professionals, enabling their delivery on the promise of home to over half a million home buyers and sellers monthly. In 2021, Bright subscribers facilitated $141B in real estate transactions through the company’s platform. Learn more at BrightMLS.com.
