WSJ: Is the Turmoil in D.C. Hobbling Its Housing Market?

The Wall Street Journal picked up on the slight slippage in the DC Metro market, as reported by RBI, and posted the following: 

Is the Turmoil in D.C. Hobbling Its Housing Market?

The article quotes RBI contributor Jonathan Miller's idea that “the debt ceiling debate dominating media coverage for most of the month probably caused consumers to pause before making a purchase decision.” Real estate agent Pamela Dubois scoffed at the idea, expressing how busy she's been in Montgomery and noting that her fellow agents have been as well.

It's impossible to say for certain whether there has been any immediate impact from last month's three-ring circus, but it's certainly worth paying attention to what happens in the "super committee" later this year. If massive cuts to the federal workforce are included, we could certainly see a hike in the 3.3 month absorption rate reported in July as demand eases alongside the number of local jobs.  Not many metro areas (if any) can report a slight dip in activity like we did in July, yet still have such a strong sales pace per number of active listings. 

Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts below - Did the debt ceiling debate impact purchase activity? While considering this, here's a sampling of charts diving further into the DC Metro market (via the RBI subscription service, of course).

Median Sold Price by Home type

Median Sold Price by Bank-Mediated Status

Median DOM by Price Band

Avg SP to OLP Ratio by DOM Band