January 2016 DC Housing Statistics

Summary: It appears the trend of ever-increasing inventory is starting to stabilize, particularly in MD and NoVA, resulting in shorter days on market. Despite this, most of the region has enjoyed increased sold volume since Jan 2015 as buyer demand remains strong. Perhaps most interestingly, median prices have generally increased year-over-year throughout the region, but with increases in the 2-4% range, the appreciation appears more sustainable and in-line with historical norms than some of the double-digit increases we saw not too long ago.

Highlights

1) With the exception of DC, most of the region has seen increased sales year-over-year. DC has seen a modest decrease.

2) Median prices have generally increased 2-4% throughout the region year-over-year

3) In general, the region has seen days on market shorten year-over-year.

4) In MD and NoVA, new listings have decreased since this time last year. DC has experienced a 4.7% increase in new listings.

January 2016 statistics

MD suburbs of DC

- Volume = Total Sales are down 38.7% Month-over-Month (MoM) and up 12.9% Year-over-Year (YoY)

- Price = Median price is up 2.1% and average is down 0.2% YoY

- Time = Median days on market is 43 days (vs 45 days in January 2015)

- New Listings = New listings are down 7.1% YoY

Washington, DC

- Volume = Total Sales are down 39% MoM and down 3.8% YoY

- Price = Median price is up 1.9% and average price is down 2.9% YoY

- Time = Median days on market is 26 days (vs 28 days in January 2015)

- New Listings = New listings are up 4.7% YoY

NoVA

- Volume = Total Sales are down 39.5% MoM and up 2.5% YoY

- Price = Median price is up 3.8% and average price is down 1% YoY

- Time = Median days on market is 56 days (vs 56 days in January 2015)

- New Listings = New listings are down 12.5% YoY

Baltimore Metro

- Volume = Total Sales are down 35.7% MoM and up 21.6% YoY

- Price = Median price is up 4.8% and average price is up 4.8% YoY

- Time = Median days on market is 56 days (vs 65 days in January 2015)

- New Listings = New listings are down 6.7% YoY

Always remember the Mark Twain quote, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." Knowing how to interpret the data, and apply it to the real world is as important as the data itself.