Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) The 2015 real estate market in the D.C. metro area has fully recovered from pre-recession levels.
The median sales price for a home at $410,000, the highest it has been since 2007.
“A stabilization and a return to these levels of the median sales price is a very strong indicator of the health of the D.C. real estate market,” said John Heithaus, Vice President of Sales for RealEstate Business Intelligence.
Falls Church City was the only area to see a decrease in median sales price. Homes there were still the most expensive in the region with a median sales price of $690,000.
The most affordable homes were in Prince George’s County, which saw a $235,000 median sale price or 6.3 percent higher than 2014.
Montgomery County was the only area where prices were flat at $400,000. Heithaus attributes that to the construction boom in places like downtown Bethesda and Gaithersburg.
“What you basically have in that situation since builders can be a little more aggressive in their financing, you typically see a leveling in the market as is. It digests that new construction,” said Heithaus.
Last year was also the best since 2006 for total sales with 50,000 homes sold for a total value of $20 billion. Those sales represent a 9.4 percent increase over 2014 totals.
Heithaus said townhouses made up the majority of those sales with millenials looking for more space than they would get apartments without the hassle of maintain yards. Townhomes were also attractive to downsizing baby boomers.
Homes sold quickly with more than half selling less than 22 days after going on the market. Heithaus said this was good for sellers because demand was high. It wasn’t as good for buyers who faced more competition and less bargaining power.
Looking to 2016, Heithaus said sales are already strong, and he expects median prices to stay about the same as last year.
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