If It Bleeds, It Leads: The Real Estate Edition

Sensational headlines have always turned heads and captured attention, whether in newspapers, on TV, or online. We get it: in a world where everyone can be a publisher, getting eyeballs on one’s story can be tough. We live in a clickbait world, and the truth sometimes gets lost – or perhaps doesn’t even matter to the author as long as it gets noticed.

And there has been no shortage of clickbait stories about the state of the Washington, DC area’s real estate market, ranging from “Iconic city whose housing market is on the brink” to “Washington, DC housing market plummets...”

The DC metro area housing market is changing, but it is alive and well. Here are some basic truths:

• The Maryland and Virginia suburbs still have very tight supply, and close to half of the homes going to settlement are selling at or above their original list price.
• The District itself is more balanced, with homes staying on the market longer, on average, than those in the suburbs.
• Home prices are still rising, albeit at a slower pace than we’ve seen during the last several years.

Source: BrightMLS

We’re not trying to sugarcoat anything. The market is unquestionably softer than it was a year ago, and much softer than it was when mortgage interest rates fell below 3% back in 2020 and 2021. But “softer” doesn’t mean “soft.” There may be some darker clouds on the horizon, but that doesn’t mean the sky is falling. It’s heartbreaking for anyone who has lost their job, or is unsure about whether they can keep the one they have. The current uncertain economic climate has caused some people to hit the pause button on buying or selling a home, and for other major life decisions as well. We have a very resilient regional economy that has gone through and survived some very tough times before, and we will this time, too.

If you’re interested in up-to-date, objective data and trends, click on this link to see a weekly Housing Market Update from BrightMLS. It is updated every Monday evening and contains a wealth of information. And, of course, I always welcome your calls or inquiries in these uncertain times.