WASHINGTON — It takes more than half a million dollars to buy a median-priced home in the D.C. nowadays, but potential buyers — even those who can afford the D.C. market — continue to struggle to find something to buy.
Long & Foster Real Estate says the median sale price of a D.C. home in September was $522,135, up 3 percent from a year ago.
The number of closed sales was down 5 percent, and active inventory, or the number of condos and houses on the market for sale, was down 6 percent from Sept. 2017.
“If you are in the entry-level price point, or one level up, there isn’t much to buy,” said Long & Foster President Larry “Boomer” Foster.
Monthly home sales data are volatile, especially in D.C. where data are based on just a few hundred closings each month — 603 of them in September — but the turnover in listings remains brisk. Of the 1,797 active listings in D.C. in September, 1,445 were new listings that hit the market last month.
Washington’s Chevy Chase neighborhood was the priciest for sales in September, with a median sale price of nearly $1.25 million — a 48 percent jump from a year earlier, though that was based on just 12 closed sales.
The most active market for sales in D.C. last month were Anacostia and Hillcrest, accounting for almost one out of every five closed sales. Anacostia remains the most affordable D.C. market, with a median sale price of about $326,000 in September.
Below is a snapshot of D.C.’s September housing market activity. Click for a larger version.:
