Are homeowners in or near Washington, D.C. beginning a migration away from the big city in exchange for the open spaces in surrounding counties? It’s difficult to detect a definite trend at this point, but August real estate inventory could suggest a bit of a shift. It’s been an emerging trend over the past few months.
Inventory of available homes for sale in August for Arlington, Alexandria City, and Washington, D.C., was up from the same month in 2019. Right now it appears this trend of increasing inventory is sticking close to the big city.
For months, low inventory and exceedingly low interest rates have turned pretty much the rest of the region into a rather strong seller’s market. Inventory last month, compared to August 2019, remains drastically low in Fairfax County (down 33 percent), Montgomery County (down 40 percent), Prince William County (down 66 percent), and Prince Georges County (down 55 percent).
The dearth of available homes in these areas continues to impact average days on market as well, making it extremely competitive for buyers. In Fairfax County, average days on market for a listed home in August was just 16—down from a 23-day average in August 2019. Over the same period, Montgomery County homes sold, on average, in 24 days, compared to 32 days last year. Prince William County days on market dropped from 25 in August 2019 to just 14 days last month, and Prince Georges County days on market dropped from 33 to 24 over the same period.
Still, the growth in inventory in Alexandria, Arlington, and D.C. hasn’t had a negative impact on prices at all. Washington, D.C., average August sold prices were 6.7 percent higher than in August 2019. Average Arlington sold prices were up 8.2 percent, and Alexandria City average sale prices were up a whopping 22 percent over August of last year.
Prices elsewhere in the region were up last month as well compared to August 2019: Fairfax County (up 8.6 percent), Montgomery County (4 percent), Prince William County (8.6 percent), and Prince Georges County (15.2 percent).
Despite perhaps one of the most unusual periods in U.S. history in 2020, the overall D.C.-area market remains extremely strong—particularly if you’re a seller. As the low interest rates continue, it’s also been a boon for buyers, aside from an abundance of competitiveness when they go to make an offer on a home. Another factor these month-to-month trends point to is the fact that market realities are extremely local, with availability often drastically different between two localities that might border one another.
Buying and selling activity as we headed to late summer and toward the fall felt quite robust compared to other years where the market would tend to slow down a bit—particularly in August. This year, everything changed—from families who didn’t or couldn’t complete summer travel to students preparing for a new school year, but at home.
All of these life factors become variables in this exciting market, so the next few months ought to be quite interesting as we move toward 2021.
Christopher Prawdzik and his wife Angela Logomasini are licensed Realtors® with Samson Properties in Alexandria and are members of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® Top Producer’s Club. Operating as D.C. Region Real Estate, they serve the Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland real estate market and offer comprehensive real estate services, including 4½% full-service listings.
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