Home sales across the Washington region in February returned to seasonal norms after a bump-up last year.
A total of 4,210 properties went to closing during the month, based data reported March 14 by MarketStats by ShowingTime based on listing activity from Bright MLS. That’s down about 14 percent from February 2021, a time when the market was on a hot streak after the 2020 slowdown owing to COVID.
Comparing February 2022 to the (slightly) pre-pandemic February 2020 shows last month was actually up 2.2 percent.
Compared to February 2020, sales were up in every jurisdiction across the region except Montgomery County, where they were down 3 percent. Many jurisdictions reported double-digit increases compared to February 2020, including Falls Church (43%), Arlington (35%) and the District of Columbia (14%). Fairfax County home sales were up 9.5 percent compared to February of 2020.
Home prices continue on their upward trajectory, with the median February 2022 sales price of $526,000 up 11 percent from a year before and 17 percent from two years before. Falls Church led the pack with its median sales price of $709,000, owing to the preponderance of single-family homes in the sales mix. The District of Columbia ($660,000) and Arlington ($655,000) rounded out the top three.
Inventory remains the key issue in the market, with the 3,693 homes on the market at the end of February a dip of 40 percent from a year ago and 57 percent from two years ago.
“Available inventory stayed stagnant, improving only 1.6 percent from [January’s] all-time low,” Bright MLS analysts noted.
A total of 6,157 properties came onto the market for the first time in February, about on par with 2021 but down 7 percent from 2020. The good news for some prospective buyers: Single-family homes saw significant increases, with new listings for the month up 8.1 percent – the first significant year-over-year gain since September.
Homes that found a buyer across the region in February garnered, on average, 100 percent of original listing price, in line with February totals going back to 2017.