The Washington D.C. area housing market saw prices climb 5.2%, a 10% increase in sales volume, and the lowest inventory since 2005 for this year’s 2Q, according to a new report from Delta Associates.
“The news is pretty remarkable. The market is in full recovery, with prices up like they were in the early 2000s,” said Greg Leisch, Delta’s chief executive, in an article in The Washington Post. “It makes us very different from the rest of the country.”
The 2Q data goes on to show that it takes an average of 59 days to sell a home in the Washington area — a drop from the long-term average of 78 days seen in 1Q.
“We’re back to bidding wars, multiple contracts, sellers cherry-picking what kind of financing they want to work with,” said Morgan Knull, a D.C. based Re/Max agent. “I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be selling real estate right now than in the Washington, D.C., area. It’s kind of a golden place to work right now.”
While around a third of local homeowners own property with negative equity, the report mentions that most of these households, which were more common in the outer suburbs, were only underwater by 20% or less.
Read the original article here.
