The range of houses for sale across the country always rises in front of the busy spring market, but according to Realor.com, the metropolitan region in Washington, DC, and metropolitan increases in an oversized increase.
The existing profits in the region, which also include the suburbs of Maryland and Virginia, began to accelerate in January and February, an increase of 35.9% and 41% compared to the previous year. The inventory in the region from June to December was already 20% to 30% higher than in the previous year, but the increases accelerated in the past few months.
Since last week, active offers have increased by 56% compared to the same week a year ago.
“The adaptation period according to the layoffs and funding reductions of the federal government has probably put some house searches in Washington DC on hold, both for those whose jobs are directly affected, as well as for those who may be ahead of what is ahead of us and the data,” Danielle Hale, Chief Economist for Realor.com wrote in a release.
For comparison, the nationwide active lists rose last week compared to the same week in 2024, according to Realor.com, which agreed with a decline in mortgage interest. The average interest rate for the popular 30-year loan was around 7.25%from mid-January, but, according to Mortgage News, fell steadily to 6.82%.
This photo on February 14, 2023 shows a house for sale in Washington, DC
Aaron Schwartz | Xinhua news agency | Getty pictures
The inventory profits in the DC area are not all due to the fact that people bring their houses onto the market. New entries rose, but much less than the overall stock, so that the increase in the overall offer is a combination of new lists and slowing down the buyer activities.
The new lists were 24% higher in the past week compared to the previous year, which contributed to the increase in the sales stock and fell off the average days on the market. New lists from year to year are 11.9% above the previous year's level, but according to Hale 12.8% still below where they were in 2022.
There can also be an oversized bump of the inventory, since newly built condominiums and town houses are now being launched. Construction in the DC area has been very active in recent years. The proportion of new building lists is much more inclined towards condominiums than five years ago.
In terms of prices, the average list price in the DC-U-Bahn region was 1.6% compared to the previous year last week. For the context, this mean list price decreased by 1.5% annually in the fourth quarter of last year.
The Median List Prize nationwide landed the last week of 0.2%, but is strongly distorted by the type of home for sale. The average list price per square foot rose annually by 1.2%, which means that it rose by 1.2% per year compared to the previous year.
“While DC has the largest proportion of federal employees in the country, other state -owned markets could record similar changes in the coming weeks or months,” said Hale. “As I assume that many households decide to stay in the area and find new employment opportunities, some will probably choose to go elsewhere and retire or find a job.”