Washington, D.C., home values rose 4.8 percent in May from a year ago and sales fell for the first time in three months as buyers outnumbered sellers.
The city’s median sale price was $550,000 last month, up from about $522,000 in April, and more homes fetched above asking price. Homes have notched year-over-year price increases every month since November as inventory grows more limited.
In May, new listings were down more than 7 percent from a year ago. Washington buyers had less than a two-month supply of houses, condominiums and co-ops offered for sale, the lowest level since December and the fourth-straight month of inventory decreases.
As a result, half of all properties found a buyer in eight days or less. It’s the fastest Washington housing market in a year. Redfin agent Leslie White called the market “exhausting” for buyers.
“Buyers are becoming more creative when writing competitive offers, and even a well-crafted offer can lose out to bidder with a huge bucket of money,” White said. “It’s not uncommon to see several competing offers similar in terms. When we see one offer swooping in well above all others in price, that’s usually the winner.”
Foxhall/Palisades/Spring Valley/Wesley Heights, where the median sales price was $1.38 million, was the city’s most-expensive neighborhood for the second month, followed by Georgetown, at nearly $1.175 million. More than 47 percent of Georgetown transactions were all cash. City-wide, cash sales fell for the fourth consecutive month, to just less than 18 percent of all sales, down from 23.3 percent in January.
More-affordable neighborhoods showed the biggest percentage bump up in year-over-year sales prices, led by Bellevue/Washington Highlands, Edgewood, Anacostia, Congress Heights, Stanton Park and Deanwood. The inventory of homes for sale in Anacostia is down 24 percent from last year; in Edgewood it’s down almost 13 percent. Buyers snapped up homes in Mount Pleasant and Cleveland Park in less than a week.
NOTE: Not all neighborhoods are listed, but totals for Washington, D.C., encompass entire city. Data is based on listing information and might not reflect all real estate activity in the market. Neighborhood data is measured over the three months ended May 31. Inventory measures listings active as of May 31.
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