What can we say that we haven’t said before? Newspaper warn of possible foreclosure moratoria, job growth is just barely in the black ink and the midterm election cycle brought new leadership to Washington, D.C. Buyer are still armed with access to cheap loans and strong negotiating power. Recovery continues to crawl forward nationally; let’s take a look at what’s happening locally.
Pending Sales in the Washington, D.C. region decreased by 7.8 percent from last October to arrive at 9,205. New Listings decreased by 10.6 percent to land at 14,660 and the overall inventory of 65,810 increased by 1.3 percent.
Prices held their ground and even inched upwards. Median Sales Price increased by 5.1 percent, registering in at $268,000. Average Days on Market, at 84, decreased by 6.4 percent versus last year. Negotiations moved toward buyers as Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale decreased by 1.5 percent to 92.7 percent.
Private companies added jobs for the first time since May but not enough to lower the stubbornly high 9.6 percent unemployement rate. Our recovery is moving at a sloth’s pace, but at least it’s moving forward. A stronger labor market will drive new household formations and instill the confidence needed for current homeowners to move up and for renters to consider ownership.
