2021 D.C. real estate trends to hold in the new year

2021 was a wild year for D.C.’s real estate market. 2022 will be tamer, industry experts tell Axios, but it’ll still exceed pre-pandemic activity.

“I think people are thinking it’s going to be a more normal year. It’s still, compared to normal, going to be off the charts,” Zillow economist Nicole Bachaud says of 2022’s real estate market.

What to expect: It’s still a seller’s market. 

Low inventory will continue to impact the local market in 2022. 

• Building new homes to increase inventory isn’t an easy option since the District is such a small area. Washington Fine Properties realtor Daryl Judy says low inventory, which drives up prices and market competition, is likely to be a problem beyond 2022.

Interest rates are expected to rise somewhat, Bachaud tells us. 

• “Every time we see a big new wave of cases, we have interest rates kind of stalling or dropping a bit as a result, and so that will kind of determine when the rates start to pick up again, not necessarily if but when,” she says.

Prices will stay high. D.C. home values jumped dramatically in 2021, and the trend is expected to continue into the new year. Judy says waiting for them to drop isn’t the best move.

• “The sit-back-and-wait people are realizing that that is not a strategy because the market’s heavy,” he says. 

Digital tools such as virtual home tours will remain popular options as the pandemic continues into the new year.