The supply of homes for sale throughout the country always rises before the busy spring market, but the Washington Metropolitan Area, DC, is seeing a huge increase, according to Realtor.com.
Inventory profits in the region, which includes the district, as well as the suburbs of Maryland and Virginia, began to accelerate in January and February, 35.9% and 41% year after year, respectively. The inventory in the area from June to December had already been from 20% to 30% higher than the previous year, but the increases accelerated even more in recent months.
From last week, active lists increased 56% compared to the same week a year ago.
“The adjustment period after federal layoffs and fund cuts has probably put some searches in the home of Washington DC, both for those whose works have been directly affected and those that may be worried about what is ahead, and the data hints up these challenges,” wrote Danielle Hale, chief economist of Realtor.com in a statement.
As a comparison, the active listings nationwide increased by 28% last week compared to the same week in 2024, according to Realtor.com, coinciding with a decrease in mortgage rates. The average rate in the popular fixed loan at 30 years was around 7.25% in mid -January, but now fell to 6.82%, according to Mortgage News Daily.
This photo taken on February 14, 2023 shows a house for sale in Washington, DC
Aaron Schwartz | Xinhua news agency | Getty images
Inventory profits in the DC area are not due to people who put their homes in the market. The new listings increased, but for much less than the general inventory, so the increase in general supply is a combination of new listings and slowdown in the buyer's activity.
The new lists were 24% more after year last week, which contributed to the increase in the sales inventory and the fall of the middle days in the market, found Realtor.com. According to Hale, the new listings to date are 11.9% above the level of the previous year, but still by 12.8% below where they were in 2022, according to Hale.
There may also be a huge increase in the inventory due to condominiums and newly built houses that go to the market now. The construction in the DC area has been very active in recent years. The proportion of new construction listings is much more inclined towards condominiums than five years ago.
As for prices, the average list price in the DC metropolitan area decreased 1.6% year after year last week. For the context, in the fourth quarter of last year, that median price of the list fell 1.5% per year.
The medium price of the list nationwide, from last week, decreased 0.2%, although it is very biased by the type of home for sale. Controlling the size of the household, the median price of list per square foot increased 1.2% per year, which means that there are smaller or low -end housing in the market compared to last year.
“While DC has most of federal workers in the country, other highly employees of the federal government could see similar changes in the coming weeks or months,” said Hale. “While I hope that many homes choose to remain in the area and a pivot to find new job opportunities, some will probably choose to go and withdraw or find a job elsewhere.”
