CHANTILLY, Va., Feb. 16, 2018 – The first month of 2018 saw inventory again decline in the Washington, D.C., housing market, with confident consumers out shopping for homes but not finding an ideal selection to choose from. Median sale prices fell 7 percent.
The Long & Foster Market Minute report provides insight on data for 15 areas within Washington, D.C.
There was a 2.1-month supply of homes in D.C. in January, down from a supply of 2.6 months a year earlier. It’s generally considered a seller’s market when there’s less than a 6-month supply of available homes.
Lack of homes on the market meant lower sales volume in many areas of D.C. compared to a year ago, said Larry “Boomer” Foster, president of Long & Foster Real Estate.
Ongoing lack of inventory is concerning, because a trend of increasing prices could lead to consumers being priced out unless wages and earnings keep up with rising home values, Foster said. However, consumer and builder confidence levels are high.
“Builders know they can sell their product, and when consumers are confident, they buy and sell homes,” Foster said. “The fundamentals of our economy are strong right now.”
A homeowner who wants to sell is likely to get top dollar, especially if their property is move-in ready. The Home Value Estimator at LongandFoster.com is a good place for buyers and sellers to begin if they’re wondering what a property might be worth.
To accurately determine a home’s market value, it’s important to have a real estate agent who is familiar with the area perform an analysis of recent nearby sales. An agent will also take into account the home’s location, condition and upgrades when determining a fair market value. Sellers who go to market at the wrong price risk losing money, either by not netting as much from the sale as they could have, or by missing that all-important initial window for attracting buyers’ interest when a home is newly listed.
“Automated valuation tools are fun, but artificial intelligence can’t replace a real estate professional helping you position your home correctly in the marketplace,” Foster said.
The Long & Foster Market Minute is an overview of market statistics based on residential real estate transactions for more than 500 local areas and neighborhoods and over 100 counties in eight states. The easy-to-read, easy-to-share reports include information about each area’s units sold, active inventory, median sale prices, list to sold price ratio, days on market and more.
Information included in this report is based on data supplied by Metropolitan Regional Information System and its member associations of Realtors, which are not responsible for its accuracy. The reports include residential real estate transactions within specific geographic regions, not just Long & Foster sales, and they do not reflect all activity in the marketplace. Information contained in this report is deemed reliable but not guaranteed, should be independently verified, and does not constitute an opinion of MRIS or Long & Foster Real Estate.
About Long & Foster Real Estate
Long & Foster Real Estate, the nation’s No. 1 independent real estate brand*, is part of The Long & Foster Companies, a subsidiary of HomeServices of America, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate. HomeServices is the nation’s second-largest real estate brokerage and one of the largest providers of integrated real estate services. Long & Foster Real Estate is the exclusive affiliate for Christie’s International Real Estate throughout select parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, and it is a founding affiliate of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, a prestigious global network of real estate professionals that includes the Luxury Portfolio International division.
Long & Foster Real Estate has over 230 offices, stretching from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Fair Haven, New Jersey, and from Martinsburg, West Virginia, to the Atlantic Ocean, and it represents more than 11,000 agents in seven Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states, plus the District of Columbia. The company, which has a productive commercial business in addition to its residential side, sold more than $31.2 billion worth of homes and helped people buy and sell homes nearly 88,000 times in 2016. Visit www.LongandFoster.com for more information.
*By sales volume, according to the REAL Trends 500