Home Price Appreciation in DC Housing Market Hits Major Slow Down

A few weeks ago, we praised the DC housing market for its impressive home price appreciation. Sellers in the region were certainly grateful this was the case.

But it no longer is.

After years of leading the nation in housing appreciation, the Washington housing market has fallen all the way out of the top 10.

A quarterly report from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight says Maryland home prices were up 9 percent from year-ago levels last quarter, which places the state 12th among states for price gains.

D.C. ranked 18th, with annual appreciation of 7.54 percent, while Virginia ranked 19th with an annual appreciation of 7.46 percent. Such figures don’t bode too well for sellers, but they do mean home mortgage loan applicants may be able to swoop in with lower offers.

When viewed as a metropolitan statistical area, the Washington area had fourth-quarter year-over-year price appreciations that averaged 6.31 percent.

Nationwide, year over-year-price gains posted the smallest increases since 1999, up an average of 5.87 percent from the fourth quarter of 2005.

Utah, Wyoming and the Idaho housing market led the quarterly list, with average home prices up from 14 percent to more than 17 percent in the past year.