While active listings across the country rose 14.2%—the smallest increase in more than a year—home listings in the Washington, D.C., metro area jumped 25% during the four-week period ending April 27 compared to a year ago. That’s the biggest such surge since Redfin began tracking the statistic in 2015.
The D.C. suburbs were impacted the hardest. In Alexandria, Va.; Montgomery County, Md.; and Loudoun County, Va., active listings soared 40.9%, 38.5%, and 36.8%, respectively. Listings in the D.C. municipality increased 14.9%.
The total volume of active listings in the metro area hit 12,649, the highest since November 2022.
Those numbers have grown since then as DOGE announced steeper cuts last month. Layoffs after March 12 will be released at the end of May.
“Quite a few people in D.C. are selling their homes because they’re losing their jobs,” D.C.-based Redfin real estate agent Mary Bazargan said. “Many of those people are planning to leave the area because the cost of living is high and they want a new job that allows them to work remotely and be closer to family.
Although inventory is high, she said some sellers are nervous about working with a buyer who plans to finance their purchase. For example, she worked with a buyer whose offer was higher than anyone else’s and waived contingencies, but it wasn’t accepted.
“Still, the seller ended up going with an all-cash offer because all of the layoff news made them nervous about accepting offers from financed buyers,” she said.
Despite the selectiveness of sellers, the D.C. market is outperforming the U.S. as homes sell faster with larger price tags. The median home sale price in Washington, D.C., increased 4.1% to $600,964 during April compared to last year, while nationwide it grew 1.9% to $387,855.
“What’s happening with housing inventory in Washington, D.C. could be a sign of what’s to come in other U.S. housing markets,” Redfin Senior Economist Asad Khan said. “And while strong housing demand is buoying in D.C., the rest of the country isn’t so hot. Other markets may not be able to absorb further inventory growth without prices softening.”
