Good news for potential home sellers in the D.C. area is also bad news for potential buyers.
The median price of what sold metro-wide last month was $459,950, a December record and up 3.4% from a year ago, according to listing service Bright MLS.
The median price of homes that sold in the District was up 6%. The median price in Arlington County, Virginia, was up 17% from a year ago.
But fewer buyers found something they liked and could afford.
Contracts signed to buy a home were down 9.2% from a year ago, the biggest drop in pending sales in almost six years, and the second month in a row that new pending sales have declined.
The largest driver of falling contract signings is the low number of houses and condos on the market for sale. Active listings compared with last year were down 18% in December, to the lowest inventory level in the last 10 years.
The number of active listings has now declined for 11 straight months.
Below is a snapshot of the D.C. area’s housing market in December, courtesy of MarketStats by ShowingTime:
