What an incredible (and eventful) year it's been! After a year filled with government shutdowns and economic recovery, I think we've come out strong and are ending this year on a great note! The Washington, D.C. metro/Montgomery County area has especially been a fortuitous place to be living. The winter real estate market is expectedly slower with the rush of the holidays and the cold weather. However, things are still quietly bustling!
National Real Estate Market is Looking Good
Nationally existing home sales increased 10.7% from this time last year, with home prices increasing 11.7%. We even saw a 23% increase in closed sales last month, the highest number of closed sales since 2009! So we definitely see the market improving, nationally and locally. Now, here comes the interesting part…
Inventory in Bethesda is Tight
Nationally, the inventory of homes for sale have leveled out at their normal level, which is great because it means there are enough homes for sale for all those people looking to buy. Locally, it's a different story. Inventory of homes for sale in Montgomery County is 68% lower than its June 2008 peak. Right now we have just over 2 months' supply of inventory when demand requires a level closer to 4.
In Bethesda in particular (zip code 20816), the inventory is even worse with about 3 months inventory for just a level of just over 8 months closed sales. This means we still have a shortage of homes and buyers will have to search and compete for the home they want. And here's your basic supply and demand lesson at work: with a shortage of supply, price increases with demand. And we're definitely seeing it happen!
Check out the charts below. We're seeing a high level of closed sales and very low inventory. Along with this we've seen a slow increase in median sold price for detached (single family) homes in Bethesda throughout the slower September, October, and November months. Also, days on market has slowly been decreasing. As the inventory shortage worsens, price is going up and homes are selling faster.
Check out our blog post to read more on why selling during the holidays can be an excellent decision, or just shoot me an email and I'd be happy to fill you in on some more figures. All in all, the year has come out to a great end for real estate–and I hope for you as well! It will be exciting to see what January 2014 brings!
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