About Coronavirus 2020
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The Washington real-estate market started out strong in March—traditionally when the busy spring buying season shifts into high gear. But the onset of the coronavirus crisis during the second half of the month led to one of the slowest periods for local real estate in recent memory, according to MarketStats by ShowingTime, the authority on such data.
The number of homes that went under contract in the entire DC-metro area in March plummeted by nearly 16%, compared to March 2019. New pending sales haven’t experienced such a significant year-over-year decline since April 2011. In DC proper, the number of new contracts fell by 18% compared to March 2019, while Prince George’s County saw a drop of 20%—its steepest decline in a decade.
Meanwhile, the number of homes listed for sale last month in the DC-metro fell 7.4%, to the lowest level for March in five years. DC proper fared a bit better, with new March listings down 3.4%. Montgomery County, on the other hand, experienced a 10.2% drop, resulting in the county’s lowest number of new March listings in six years.
The median price of homes that sold in March throughout the metro-area was $490,000—a 10-year high. That number, though, reflects prices that were agreed upon well in advance of the Covid-19 pandemic, since most homes that close in a given month went under contract weeks or months earlier. It’s still too soon to know how coronavirus will impact housing prices in Washington.
Take a look at the full report of March housing data—compiled based on activity from Bright MLS, the listing service that all local agents must use—below.
Marisa M. Kashino joined Washingtonian in 2009 and was a senior editor until 2022.
