DC area closed sales, contracts and prices all reach highest April levels in a decade

Median sales prices of $419,250, closed sales of 4,678 and pending sales of 6,647 are all highest April levels in a decade; Inventory levels up a scant 2.3%

Rockville, MD – (May 10, 2016) – The following analysis of the Washington, D.C. Metro Area housing market has been prepared by Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D. of ShowingTime RealEstate Business Intelligence (RBI) and is based on April 2016 MRIS housing data.

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OVERVIEW

• April 2016’s median sales price of $419,250 was the highest April level in a decade and was up $2,250 (+0.5%) compared to last year, and up $20,250 (+5.1%) from last month. 
• Sales volume across the DC Metro area was nearly $2.4 billion, up 11.4% from last April and up 31.8% from last month.
• April closed sales of 4,678 were up 9.6% compared to last year and were at a new decade high for the month.  This is the 17^th consecutive month of year-over-year increases in closed sales.
• New contracts increased by 7.2% to 6,647, an all-time high for the decade.  With the exception of the weather-related interruption in January 2016, new contracts have shown year-over-year increases since November 2014.
• New listings were up 1.1% year-over-year to 8,809, the highest April level since 2010.
• Active inventories rose 2.3% compared to April 2015 to 11,113.  Active inventories have been increasing year-over-year since October 2013.
• The average percent of original list price received at sale in April was 98.0%.
• Half the homes sold in April were on market 14 days or less, the same as last year, but down 13 days from last month.

• April’s regional median sales price rose to $419,250, a slight 0.5% over last year’s $417,000.  Single-family detached prices rose 0.8% to $524,000, townhome prices rose 1.2% to $410,000, but condo prices were down 0.8% to $302,500.  This is the first time in six months that year-over-year prices increased.
• Prices are 3.8% above the 5-year average of $404,050 and 9.4% above the 10-year average of $383,125.
• The regional price of $419,250 set a new 10-year peak for April prices and is 26.3% above the April 2009 low of $332,000.
• Falls Church City remains the most expensive location in the region with an April median sales price of $707,460, (down 9.3% from last year) while Prince George’s County continues to be the most affordable area in the region with an April median sales price of $242,500, (up 9.2% from last April).

• The 4,678 closed sales in April were up 9.6% compared to last year’s 4,268 and up 24.6% compared to last month’s 3,755, marking the 17^th month in a row of increased Y-o-Y sales. 
• Single-family detached sales were up 13.9% to 2,206, while condo sales were up 10% to 1,315 and townhome sales were up 1.8% to 1,155.
• Closed sales are 12.3% above the 5-year average of 4,166 and 18.2% above the 10-year average of 3,958.
• For the year-to-date, total sales of 14,400 are up 6.9% compared to January-April of last year.
• April’s closed sales of 4,678 set a new April decade high, exceeding the previous 2010 high of 4,561 by 2.6%.  Sales were up 49.1% compared to the market low of 3,138 seen in 2008.

• There were 6,647 new pending sales at the end of April 2016, up 7.2% compared to last year.
• All property types again saw increases in the number of new contracts compared to last year, with single-family detached up 9.3% to 3,327, condos up 8.9% to 1,646 and townhomes up 1.5% to 1,673. 
• Pending contracts were above both the 5-year average of 6,066 and the 10-year average of 5,448.
• April 2016’s new pending sales number of 6,647 surpassed the April 2015 high of 6,203 by 7.2% and was 70.6% above the April 2008 low of 3,896.
• For the entire metro, the new pending contracts for January-April are up 6.1% to 21,037.

• The number of new listings in April rose to 8,809, a 1.1% gain compared to last year.  New listings for townhomes rose 3.7% to 2,071, single-family detached rose 0.4% to 4,583 and condos rose 0.2% to 2,150.
• The April new listing total was the highest monthly listing total since April of 2010.
• New listings in April were above the 5-year average of 7,677 and the 10-year average of 7,933. 
• The April new listings are 40.3% above the 10-year low of 6,280 seen in April 2012 and are only 7% off the April 2007 market peak of 9,477.
• Across the DC Metro area, total new listings of 26,451 for the year-to-date are up by 6.1%.

• Inventories increased 2.3% to 11,113 at the end of April.  They were up 13.7% or 1,339 from last month.
• All property types show an increase over last year, with townhome inventories up 5.8% to 1,978, condos up 2.3% to 2,926 and single-family detached up 1.3% to 6,198.
• Inventories are 14.3% above the 5-year average of 9,725, but 23.7% below the 10-year average of 14,573.
• End of April inventories exceed the April 2013 low of 7,123 by 56%, but are down 57% from the peak of 25,847 seen in April 2008.
• Washington D.C. saw the largest increase in inventory of 11.3%, with 1,307 active listings.  Fairfax City saw the largest percentage decrease of 23.8%, from 80 to 61 listings.

• The regional average sales price to original listing price ratio for April was 98.0%, down just slightly from last year’s 98.2% and up from last month’s 97.1%.
• Over the last decade, the region’s April average sales price to original listing price ratio ranged from a low of 91.3% in 2009 to a high of 98.3% in 2014.
• Homes in Washington D.C. sold at 99% of their original listing price in April, the highest in the region and down slightly from the 99.6% seen last year.
• The largest gap between original listing price and sales price was in Montgomery County, where the average ratio was 97.3%, down slightly from the 97.6% seen last year.

• The median days-on-market in April was 14 days, the same as last year, but almost half of last month’s 27.
• This month, both condos and single-family detached homes had a median DOM of 16, while townhomes had a median DOM of 10.
• DOM are below the 5-year average of 15 days and the 10-year average of 28 days.
• The lowest April DOM level recorded in the past decade was 11 days in 2013; the highest was 60 days in 2008.
• The highest median DOM is in Prince George’s County, where it is 25 days (down from 26 days last year).  The lowest median DOM are in Alexandria City, where it is 10 days (down from 16 last year) and in Washington D.C., where it is also 10 days (up from 8 days last year).

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About the DC Metro Housing Market Update

The DC Metro Area Housing Market Update provides unique insights into the state of the current housing market by measuring the number of new pending sales, trends by home characteristics, and key indicators through the most recent month compiled directly from Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data in RBI’s proprietary database. The DC Metro Area housing market includes: Washington, D.C., Montgomery County and Prince George’s County in Maryland, and Alexandria City, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Fairfax City, and Falls Church City in Virginia.  Data provided by ShowingTime RBI, based on listing activity from MRIS.

About MRIS

MRIS is a leading provider of real estate information technology and one of the nation’s leading multiple listing services (MLS), facilitating nearly $51 billion in system wide sales in 2015. The company supports over 45,000 real estate professionals in the Mid-Atlantic region, including Maryland, Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C. and parts of Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia. MRIS provides its customers with a portfolio of best-in-class desktop, mobile and cloud-based technologies to improve the real estate transaction process for both real estate professionals and homebuyers and sellers. For more information, please visit MRIS.com or MRIShomes.com to search for thousands of available homes in the Mid-Atlantic region.

About Elliot Eisenberg

Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D. is the Chief Economist of GraphsandLaughs, LLC, a firm specializing in economic consulting and data analysis.  He is a frequent speaker on topics including: economic forecasts, economic impact of industries such as homebuilding and tourism, consequences of government regulation, economic development and other current economic issues. Dr. Eisenberg earned a B.A. in economics with first class honors from McGill University in Montreal, as well as a Masters and Ph.D. in public administration from Syracuse University. Eisenberg was formerly a Senior Economist with the National Association of Home Builders in Washington, D.C.   He is a regularly featured guest on cable news programs, talk and public radio, writes a syndicated column and authors a daily 70 word commentary on the economy that is available at www.econ70.com