March home sales data for the Washington metro area are largely lagging numbers, reflecting contract signings that took place in late February and early March. But prices were still holding up, and the number of closed sales was mostly higher than a year ago throughout the region.
However, there was a noticeable drop in the number of homes for sale by the end of last month.
Long & Foster said the median price of a home that sold in the District last month was $609,950, up 7% from a year ago, with a 14% drop in the number of homes on the market, compared to last March.
The median price of a closed sale in Virginia’s Arlington County in March was $650,000, up 11%, with a 26% drop in year-over-year inventory.
The number of homes on the market in Fairfax County last month was down 25% from a year ago, even with a 9% increase in the median price of closed sales to $573,950.
In Loudoun County, inventory is down 22%, but the median selling price in March was up 12% from a year ago to $535,000, according to monthly sales history data from Long & Foster.
Prince William County saw an 11% jump in the median selling price compared to March 2019, to $408,900.
In Maryland’s Montgomery County, the median selling price of a closed sale in March was $465,000, up 8%, though active inventory was down 32% from a year ago.
Prince George’s County, where the number of closed sales fell 13%, the median price of $330,000, was up 9%. Active listings in Prince George’s County were down 45% from a year earlier.
A more current look at the housing market comes from a weekly report from the National Association of Realtors, which reports this week 74% of its Realtor members nationwide say their clients have not reduced listing prices to attract buyers.
Real estate firm Zillow also provides an early look at current sales activity not reflected in March closed sales data. It said pending sales or contracts signed to buy a home in the D.C. metro as of the week ending April 19 were down 35.3% from a year ago. New listings were down 21.6% from this time last year.
Below are March snapshots of housing markets in the District, Northern Virginia and the Maryland suburbs, courtesy of Long & Foster Real Estate Inc.:
