DC Metro Sold Prices Highest in September in Four Years

Pending Sales Activity Follows Expected Seasonal Trends

Rockville, MD –(October 10, 2011) – The following analysis of the Washington, D.C. Metro Area housing market has been prepared by RealEstate Business Intelligence (RBI), and is based on the September 2011 RBI Pending Home Sales Index™ released today.

View PDF version of this press release

OVERVIEW

Home sales in the Washington, D.C. metro area headed into the slower fall market losing some momentum as expected following the end of Washington’s seasonal summer peaks. There were 3,829 new contacts written in September 2011 beating September 2010 by 12.4% and 11.7% ahead of the five year September average. The total September contracts were 8.2% less than the 4,169 contracts signed in August 2011, consistent with the decrease in seasonal activity.  At $338,000, the median sales price for September 2011 showed some resilience as it was the highest September level since 2008.

KEY TRENDS

• September contracts reflected long term seasonal trends. There were 3,829 contracts signed in September 2011, 8.2% less than the 4,169 contracts signed in August, but September’s total was still 11.7% ahead of the 5-year September average.  The monthly total was the highest number of September signed contracts in 5 years.  New pending sales were 12.4% above September 2010.

• Median sales price lower than previous month, consistent with seasonal patterns.  The median sales price for September 2011 was consistent with seasonal long-term trends, declining 5.6%% to $338,000 from $356,000 in August 2011. The September 2011 median sales price represents a 2.4% increase year-over-year and is almost exactly in line with the 10 year average median sale price of $340,020.

• Active inventory is considerably below the 5 year average.  There were 14,791 active listings at the end of September 2011 which is 23.8% below the 19,401 monthly average of the past five years and down 13.9% from September 2010.  Buyers were faced with lower inventory to choose from than the same period a year ago, however, the number of active listings at the end of September did increase modestly by 3% over August 2011 levels.

• Time to market a property higher than 5-year average.  The average days on market prior to buyer and seller agreeing on terms was 77 days in September 2011, edging up 10% from 70 days in August 2011 and still lower than the 81day average for each September since 2007.  The average discount from original list price was 6.7% in September 2011, 5.9% discount in the same month last year and 5.8% discount in August 2011.

The RBI Pending Home Sales Index™ is a two-year moving window on the housing market using new pending sales (signed contracts) and median sales price (closed sales). It provides unique insight into the state of the current housing market by measuring the number of new pending sales for each month through the most recent month.The results include new pending sales through and including September 2011.  The market area 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.

ABOUT RBI

RealEstate Business Intelligence, LLC (RBI) is a wholly owned subsidiary of MRIS. RBI is a primary source of real estate data, analytics and business intelligence for real estate professionals with business interests in the Mid-Atlantic region.  The full monthly data report for all jurisdictions in the MRIS region, along with charts and graphics, can be found at www.rbintel.com/statistics.  RBI is the only company in the Mid-Atlantic region that provides timely, online access to statistical information directly from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).  Visit rbintel.com or www.facebook.com/rbintel to learn more.