The debt ceiling debate not only brought the nation's economy to its knees, it also put a crimp in housing sales in the Nation's Capital, where activity had been climbing steadily for several months.
The 4,563 contracts signed in July in the Washington area were 10.9% less than the 5,124 pacts inked in June, according to the Metropolitan Regional Information Service, the multiple listing service for the District of Columbia region.
While month-over-month contract activity tends to decline in July in Washington, the June-to-July fall off was larger that the 7.5% ten-year average. But even with what MRIS calls "the hesitation," new pending home sales reached their highest July total in six years. However, the 29.3% year-over-year surge was largely the result of the fall off in activity last year after the federal home buyer tax credits expired.
Consistent with seasonal patterns, the median sales prices of closed sales in July was $370.000, 2.6% less than the June median of $379,990. At the same time, the inventory of unsold houses hit its lowest level since July 2005. There were 14,946 active listings at the end of July, 3.8% fewer than 15,538 in the prior month and 9.9% fewer than 16,590 in the July 2010.
By the end of July, 5,374 new listings came to market, 15.2% less than the 6,337 listings entering the market in June and 12.7% less than the 6,153 that came online during the same month last year. The number of days it took to sell a home in July averaged 68, which was five days slower than June and 11 days slower than July 2010.
