Greater D.C. Area: Weekly Housing Market Update
Monitor the latest market activity in and around the nation’s capital with our experts’ week-by-week data breakdown.
Written by Lisa Sturtevant, PhD of Bright MLS
Week Ending April 13th, 2025
New listings continue boosting supply in the D.C. region. As the spring homebuying season ramps up, sellers added more listings to the market for the week ending April 13, 2025. New listings were 10.5% higher for the D.C. region and similarly increased 9.4% across the greater Mid-Atlantic area, compared to last year.
Buyer traffic indicates caution among consumers. As inventory expands, affordability or economic concerns could be holding some buyers back. Showing activity has been weaker in 2025 than 2024 since the start of the year throughout the Mid-Atlantic, but D.C. is seeing a larger decline. In the latest week, showings were down 4.2% in the region and 9.4% in the D.C. metro – an indication that DOGE is impacting buyer confidence.
List price drops continue to grow. The median list price was $625,000 across the greater D.C. region, with no change from the median last year. A notable change from last year is sellers are willing to come down on their list price to meet the market. For the week ending April 13, 9.2% of active listings dropped their list price, compared to 7.3% a year ago. Sellers across the Mid-Atlantic have also had to pivot their pricing with 8.3% lowering their list price in the most recent week, compared to 7.8% a year ago.
Shifting expectations influence market changes. Although we are seeing seasonality as the spring homebuying market continues to ramp up, new listings have outpaced new purchase contracts this year. Affordability and general economic uncertainty appear to be the main dynamic driving the buyer at this point. Nonetheless, some individuals and families affected by federal workforce cuts or return to office mandates will need to make moves, which could impact both supply and demand.
Week Ending April 6th, 2025
New purchase contracts pick up in the D.C. region. The number of new purchase contracts sprung significantly for the week ending April 6, up 18.3% higher compared to a year ago. Seasonality is bringing buyers to the market and interest in the D.C. market has been higher than in the overall Mid-Atlantic, where the number of new purchase contracts was up by only 13.0% year over year. There are still buyers out there unaffected by DOGE who are able to take advantage of falling mortgage rates and more inventory.
New listings continue adding homes to D.C. market. New listings increased 18.4% year over year for the week ending April 6, just slightly above the gains for the Mid-Atlantic region overall. The uptick in new listing activity is primarily being driven by the spring selling season and is not a reaction to federal workforce cuts. However, market activity this spring will depend on how big an impact DOGE has on the local economy.
Price drops are more common in 2025. For the week ending April 6, 8.9% of active listings in the D.C. region dropped their list price, compared to 7.3% of listings a year ago. Sellers are shifting expectations to a market where there is more inventory and where buyers have more leverage. Some sellers, however, may also be trying to price aggressively with expectations that the market could slow.
The changing season seems to matter more than DOGE at this point. The greater Washington D.C. area housing market is exhibiting typical season trends, with more buyers and sellers coming into the market as the weather warms up. Cuts to the federal workforce in the region could be having a marginal impact on listing activity and pricing, but seasonal fundamentals are the main driver.
Week Ending March 30, 2025
No runaway new listing activity in the D.C. region. During the week ending March 30, the number of new listings was 39.2% higher than a year ago. (Note: a year ago this week included Easter weekend.) New listings increased by 3.7% from the week before. Across the Bright MLS service area overall, there was a 5.9% gain in new listing activity week-to-week. More new listings coming onto the market still seems tied to seasonality and not DOGE activities.
Sellers are pricing high—and then cutting fast. List prices in the D.C. region are still on the rise, with the median list price last week up 7.6% compared to a year ago. More sellers are dropping their asking price, however, potentially in anticipation of slowing demand. During the week ending March 30, 8.6% of active listings in the D.C. region had a price cut, a share that is 3.4 percentage points higher than a year ago.
Strong demand in some close-in markets. The number of new pending sales across the D.C. region was 5.1% higher than a year ago, a stronger year-over-year performance than the Bright MLS service area overall. Pending sales tracked down week-to-week but some local markets saw more buyer interest. In Arlington and Alexandria, new pending sales activity was up significantly compared to a week ago. Pending contract activity also ticked up in Washington D.C. and Prince George’s County.
The Washington D.C. area housing market remains resilient. At the end of March, home prices and buyer activity are holding firm, even compared to other Mid-Atlantic markets. Early signs of a slowing spring market, however, including the jump in listings with a price drop and the relatively larger pullback in showing activity in the D.C. region.
Week Ending March 23, 2025
More Washington D.C. area sellers are dropping their price. In the week ending March 23, close to 9% of active listings in the D.C. region had a price drop. The share of sellers dropping their asking price is two percentage points higher than it was a year ago suggesting more eagerness to attract buyers.
The rise in new listing activity has slowed somewhat. Last week, a total of 2,084 listings came onto the market in the greater Washington D.C. region. This is higher than last year but is 5.3% lower than listing activity in the week prior. Year-to-date, new listings are up 10.4% in the D.C. region, compared to 4.8% for the overall Bright MLS service area.
Buyers are taking advantage of more inventory and price negotiation. The number of new pending contracts in the greater Washington D.C. region rose last week. Buyer activity was relatively stronger in the D.C. area market than in other parts of the Mid-Atlantic region. Pending sales activity has been strongest in the local markets where listing activity has increased the most.
Inventory in the D.C. region has been tight for so long, so the influx of new listings is a boon to buyers. It had been anticipated that DOGE would cool housing market activity in the greater Washington D.C. area, but the uptick in new listing activity has drawn some sidelined buyers into the market. Given the tight supply at the beginning of the year, there does not appear to be a risk of major price drops during the spring market, but buyers will have more leverage on price.
Week Ending March 16, 2025
DOGE does not appear to be holding back buyers in the D.C. region. The number of new pending contracts across the greater Washington, D.C., region was up 7.4% compared to a week ago and was 1.5% higher than the same week last year. Home sales tend to increase heading into spring, but buyer interest appears to be somewhat stronger in the D.C. region than in other parts of the Mid-Atlantic. Overall, in the Bright MLS service area, new pending contracts were up by 5.8% week-to-week and rose by just .07% compared to a year ago.
More listings are likely driving the strong sales activity. Inventory has been very limited in the Washington, D.C., region since the pandemic. Listings have increased over the past few weeks, though it is still not clear whether federal government workforce changes are helping to push listing activity higher. Either way, there are eager buyers in the market who are capitalizing on the dip in mortgage rates as well as the influx of new listings.
With more inventory, home prices are growing more slowly in the D.C. region. During the week ending March 16, the median list price across the region was down 0.8% compared to the week prior and was up 2.2% year over year. Prices have been rising more quickly in other parts of the Bright MLS service area. More supply and affordability constraints are likely putting downward pressure on price growth. However, there are no signals at this point that DOGE and other federal government workforce changes are leading to major price declines in the region.
Uncertainty still clouds the outlook for the D.C.-area housing market. There is still confusion about the extent of the federal government layoffs. Many provisional employees who had been laid off have been able to return to their jobs. Other Trump administration actions are being reviewed by the judicial system. Agencies have been given deadlines to prepare to move operations out of the D.C. area. But there are still a lot of questions about if and how these initiatives will be put into place and what impact they will have.
The upcoming spring market could provide the first material evidence of any housing market impacts. As federal government workers in the D.C. region grapple with their new situations—whether a job loss or return-to-the-office mandate—they are also starting to plan for a new job or a new home. As the housing market continues to pick up seasonally heading into April, we will be more likely to see the first clear signs of potential DOGE housing market impacts.