As the amount of available homes decrease throughout the Washington D.C. metro area, the rest of market is seeing an impact. According to the MRIS July Housing Market Updates for the DC Metro and Baltimore, inventory in both metros are falling and pushing prices up. The lack of inventory, though, is putting a damper on the number and volume of sales.
In the month of July, the median sales price in D.C. increased 0.6 percent annually and fell 2.5 percent over the previous month. The median sales price of $435,000 dipped $11,000 over the price reported in June. Home sales are also dipping in the D.C. Metro, the report says, with 5,045 home sales in the month — down 3.4 percent since July 2015.
The sales volume in D.C. fell to just above $2.6 billion, representing a significant monthly and annual change. The total dollars dipped 4.6 percent from last July and 18.6 percent from the previous month, suggesting that the heat of the summer season is coming to a close.
New contracts did increase by a sliver of 0.9 percent, helping to surpass levels that haven’t been seen since July 2005. However, the lack of available inventory is keeping the market from getting really hot. New listings in July were 8.6 percent lower than they were in 2015 and 17 percent lower than June.
Median prices are falling, but condo prices are holding on strong. In July, condos saw a year-over-year gain of 4.1 percent to $302,000. Both single-family homes and townhome prices fell.
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In July, prices in Falls Church City dipped 3 percent annually, marking the only jurisdiction that saw a median sales price dip in the month. The biggest uptick was reported in Prince George’s, where 829 homes sold and the median price increased 13.5 percent. Alexandria City also saw a decent uptick of 9.6 percent.
Another indication that the summer heat is cooling in the D.C. Metro is the dip of days on market. While the days on market was down two days annually to 17, the figure increased three days month-over-month.
The lowest recorded days on market on the past decade was 12 days in 2013, and the highest recorded number of days was 56 in 2008.
July 2016 had the same days on market as the same month in 2014, which was the first increase reported in the prior two years after consecutive dips of 11 days in 2012 and 2013.
Falls Church City had the lowest number of median days on market (eight), compared with Alexandria City on the other end of the spectrum (23).
The real estate trends in Baltimore
In nearby Baltimore, the median sales price increased slightly in July 2016 over last year, by 2.9 percent. The reported value of $267,500 surpassed the last highest point reached in July 2008.
The total volume of sales inched up 2.7 percent annually to $1.1 billion, and that’s with 1.7 percent fewer closed sales than last year.
Homes are coming off the market at a faster pace than last year, too, the report says. The days on market in July was 26, which tied with 2013 for the best July in the last decade. Down from 32 last year, the days on market was pulled down by Howard County’s low point of 25 days. Carroll County had the highest days on market, at 41.
Low inventory could be helping to push prices higher, as there were 10.5 percent fewer active listings, and new pending contracts dipped a sliver of 0.2 percent annually.
Baltimore sellers are getting more for their homes than they have in a July in the past decade. The average percentage of original list price received at the closing table was 95.8 percent in July.
