Every week someone asks me about the headlines on DC's market. Here's what I actually tell them.
The stat making the rounds right now: home showings across the DC region are down, even though there are more homes on the market than we've seen since 2019. On paper that sounds backwards. More homes to see should mean more showings, not fewer. It isn't really a contradiction once you understand what's driving it.
What's happening is that the regional average is hiding two very different markets. Above $750,000, homes are still moving quickly, and a meaningful share are still selling above asking price. Below $450,000, buyers are more hesitant, and condos in particular are sitting on the market longer and pricing softer than they were a year ago.
Here's what I'd tell a friend over coffee instead of a client in a meeting. Mortgage rates hovering near 7% are doing most of the work behind this split. If you've got equity from a previous home, or cash on hand, this is genuinely a good window to be buying. Sellers are more realistic than they were during the frenzy years, and there's actual room to negotiate. If you're stretching to buy at the lower end of the market, the math is tighter than it was even a year ago, and that's worth sitting with honestly rather than getting talked past it.
If you're selling, the regional average isn't the number that matters, your specific price bracket and property type is. I've watched a well-priced, well-presented home under $600,000 sit through weekend open houses with a lot of compliments and no offers, while a similar home just fifty thousand dollars higher moved within a week. That's not bad luck or a bad agent, it's the market telling you exactly where demand currently sits.
The market isn't as simple as a headline, and neither is your decision, whatever price point you're working with. That's usually why the conversation matters more than the data point.
