The final report on the D.C. metro area’s housing market for 2021 shows a year-end slowdown, and less activity when compared to the final month of 2020.
Listing service Bright MLS reports home showings by real estate agents in December dropped sharply, down 20% from November. Showings were also 5.9% lower than December 2020.
Fewer potential buyers looking also translated into a drop in contracts signed to buy a home. Pending sales in the D.C. metro total just over 4,200. That’s a 29% drop in contract signings compared to November, and down 8.6% from a year earlier. Closed sales also slowed, with 6,100 sales that closed in December. That’s down 3.8% from November and down 8.4% from December 2020.
What did sell took a little longer to go under contract, spending an average of 12 days on the market — four days more than a year earlier.
The slowdown in sales did not translate into lower year-over-year prices. The median price of what sold in December came in at $520,000. That was 7.8% higher than December 2020, though it was down 2.2% from median selling prices in November.
Bright MLS also runs a monthly Home Demand Index, measuring the strength of buyer demand based on Internet searches and requests for viewings. Its Demand Index in December was down 28.9% from November, and 23.3% lower than a year ago.
The biggest drop in buyer interest was among higher-priced single-family homes and higher-priced condos. The weakest demand, now considered “Limited,” was for lower-priced and mid-priced single-family homes.
Below are median selling prices for jurisdictions around the D.C. metro in December, courtesy of Bright MLS.
