- The only downward number in the report was the October median sales price. That price point slid an insignificant 0.3 percent, or about a thousand bucks, to $399,000.
- In October, 3,871 sales closed, a 2.3 percent year-over-year increase, and the 11th consecutive month of year-over-year increases.
- Active listings have grown 25 months in a row.
The D.C. metro market keeps on with the exhausting pace that it has maintained for well over a year.
In October, 3,871 sales closed, a 2.3 percent year-over-year increase, and the 11th consecutive month of year-over-year increases. According to the RealEstate Business Intelligence (RBI) Metro Housing Market Update, this exceeds five- and 10-year averages.
RealEstate Business Intelligence, LLC (RBI) is a primary source of real estate data, analytics and business intelligence for real estate professionals in the Mid-Atlantic Region.
“This is the strongest market in 10 years, in all major metrics,” said says RealEstate Business Intelligence chief evangelist John Heithaus.
Pending sales entered in October jumped by 7.8 percent, to 4,794, from last October. That marks a full year of year-over-year increases, and is the best level for pending contracts in a decade. All market segments have shown year-over-year growth for nine consecutive months.
“Pending sales and contracts show current strength of the market,” he added.
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Inventories have been well below the industry standard six-month supply benchmark. Now in D.C., supply is at about two months.
Inventory has been below the six-month level since July 2009, and dwindled steadily since then. After rising to a peak year-over-year increase of 34.6 percent in August 2014, inventory growth has steadily declined to the current level. Active listings have grown 25 months in a row.
New houses keep coming on the market and are caught in the riptide of rising demand, with a median of 27 days on the market, which is three more than last October, and the same as last month. But in the District proper, half of the homes sold were on the market for 11 days or fewer.
The only downward number in the report was the October median sales price. That price point slid an insignificant 0.3 percent, or about a thousand bucks, to $399,000. That percentage is in line with both the year-over-year and the September 2015 levels.
Heithaus dismissed that little blip.
“That shows seasonality kicking in,” he said. “It’s statistically irrelevant.”
Still, the report said, this dip is still in the best October for prices since 2006.
But, in terms of the year-to-date median sales price there’s yet another uptick, $412,500, which is a bump of 1.6 percent from 2014’s tally. Many homes in the market go for more than 100 percent of the list price, with multiple offers often lined up.
That’s real price appreciation in the market, and it’s holding strong, Heithaus said.
“Comparing prices now to prices from last year is showing real price appreciation,” he said. “People who bought in in 2012 or 2013 are seeing it, and that’s a good recipie for the conditions we have now — combining real price appreciation with low mortgage rates.
“These folks are talking with their friends, who are happy with their homes and the increased values, and more people want in.”
