DC home prices keep climbing, even with muted sales

The D.C. metro housing market ended the year with higher prices, less for sale and fewer would-be buyers finding what they want or can afford.

Listing service Bright MLS reports closed sales in December were down 14% from a year ago, and pending sales were down 1.1%. The number of active listings was 12.6% lower than a year earlier, and the number of new listings that came to the market was down 20.5%.

That tight inventory remains a challenge for buyers, but an upper hand for the limited number of sellers, with the median price of what sold last month up 8.1% from a year earlier.

“It was definitely a little bit of a surprise to see prices rise so fast in December,” said Lisa Sturtevant,” chief economist at Bright MLS.

“Lower mortgage rates enticed more buyers, but they are still finding a dearth of inventory. Prices will continue to rise until there is more inventory.”

The D.C. metro housing market ended the year with an inventory of homes for sale of just 1.16 months, meaning that is how long it would take to deplete active listings at the current pace of sales.

December is typically a slower month for sales, and more so last month. In-person showings by real estate agents, as measure by Bright MLS, were down 10.2% from December 2022.

Its Home Demand Index, which tracks both showings and online searches, dipped last month, moving further into what it calls the limited category.

Median selling prices were dramatically higher in a handful of D.C. markets. Year-over-year comparisons can be skewed by a few pricey outliers. Below is a snapshot of selling prices throughout the D..C. region, courtesy Bright MLS.