For the D.C.-area housing market, August was more of the same, with higher prices and fewer listings — and that trend remains most pronounced in Arlington County and Alexandria in Virginia.
Listing service Bright MLS said metrowide, the median price of a home that sold in August was $465,000. That’s up 5.1% from a year ago, and the highest August price in a decade. Closed sales were down 3.1% from a year ago. New listings were down 6.8%.
The overall number of homes for sale throughout the D.C. metro is down 20% from a year ago, the lowest level of active listings this decade and the third month in a row of double-digit declines.
Extremely low inventory on the market in Arlington County and Alexandria continue to drive prices there up more than elsewhere in the region.
The number of houses and condos for sale in Arlington County is down more than 52% from a year ago, and potential sellers aren’t closing the gap, with new listings in Arlington County in August down 16.5%.
In the city of Alexandria, new listings fell 26.4% last month. Total active listings in Alexandria were down 63.7% from a year ago at the end of August.
The median price of what did sell in Arlington County last month was $635,000. That’s up 12.4% from a year ago and the largest year-over-year gain in prices in the region. The median selling price in Alexandria was $505,500, up 6.5%.
Real estate firm Redfin recently named Arlington and Alexandria the most competitive housing markets in the country, largely attributed to the anticipation surrounding the arrival of thousands of high-paying Amazon HQ2 jobs in the area.
