Home sales in the Washington, D.C., metro area fell further in December as prices in many areas reported double-digit declines from 2005, according to statistics released by Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc.
Sales in Washington, D.C., last month were 14.8 percent below their December 2005 level, falling from 697 to 594, and the city’s median home price — at which half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less — sank 13 percent during the period to $388,250.
Fewer property owners listed their homes for sale in the District of Columbia in December, as just 628 new single-family listings came on the market, down from 798 in November and 1,195 in October. A year ago, there were 693 listings added to the market.
For D.C. homes that sold in December, it took an average of 69 days to sell compared with 36 days a year earlier — a 92 percent increase.
In Alexandria, Va., sales cooled to 198 last month, down 23.3 percent from 258 sales a year ago. The median price of a home sold in December edged up 5.3 percent from a year earlier to $435,000.
New listings in Alexandria continued to decline during December, dipping to 172, compared with 213 in November and 255 in December 2005.
Homes that sold last month in Alexandria spent 81 days on the market, up 131.4 percent from 34 days in December 2005.
Further out in the suburbs, sales in Manassas, Va., were down 32.4 percent for the month to 50, compared with 74 in December 2005. The city’s median home price decreased 12.1 percent during the period to $307,500.
Just 70 new listings were added to the Manassas inventory last month, down from 97 in November. Homes sold in December spent 94 days on the market, up 129 percent from 41 days a year ago.
Rockville, Md.-based Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. serves more than 59,000 real estate professionals in Maryland; Washington, D.C.; Northern Virginia; and parts of West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
