Washington DC Housing Market August 2026: $681K Median, 4.91 Months of Supply, and the Only Shrinking Inventory in the Region

Key Takeaways: Washington DC's median sold price was $681,500 in August 2026 (Bright MLS) — up 1.7% year over year. Homes sold in a median of 28 days, five days faster than last August. Closed sales fell 19.5%, the steepest drop of any major jurisdiction in the region. DC now carries 4.91 months of supply — nearly double Montgomery County's 2.47 and more than twice Fairfax County's 1.97 — while being the only jurisdiction in the DC Metro where active listings declined (−4.3%). Two things are true at once here, and understanding both is the whole job this fall.

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DC is the region's contrarian market, and August sharpened that rather than softening it.

The two facts that look contradictory: DC has by far the most supply of any major jurisdiction in the DMV, and DC is the only place in the DMV where inventory is actually shrinking. Every Maryland and Virginia neighbor added inventory this August — most of them by double digits. DC's active listings fell 4.3%.

The explanation is on the supply side. DC sellers pulled back harder than DC buyers did: new listings fell 15.9% against new pending sales down 14.6%. Sales volume collapsed 19.5%. And yet the median still rose 1.7%, and homes sold five days faster than last August — 28 days versus 33.

Fewer transactions. But the ones that are happening are clearing more efficiently than they did a year ago.

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Washington DC August 2026 Market Snapshot

Metric	August 2026	Year-over-Year Change
Closed Sales	438	−19.5%
Median Sales Price	$681,500	+1.7%
Median Days on Market	28 days	−5 days
New Pending Sales	373	−14.6%
New Listings	571	−15.9%
Active Listings	2,514	−4.3%
Months of Supply	4.91	+0.00 months
Showings	9,235	−10.6%

Source: Bright MLS, August 2026, Washington, DC. Data as of September 4, 2026.

Compare that with DC's July 2026 numbers: a $672,500 median (−0.4% YoY), 30 days on market, and 5.05 months of supply. The median moved up about $9,000 month over month and flipped from negative to positive year over year. Time to contract improved by two days. Supply tightened slightly. This is not a market falling apart — it's a market with far fewer participants on both sides.

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DC Is the Supply Outlier — In Both Directions

Here is where DC sits against its peers this August:

Jurisdiction	Median Price	YoY	Days on Market	Months of Supply	Active Listings YoY
Arlington County, VA	$860,729	+14.8%	14	2.44	+12.2%
Loudoun County, VA	$771,250	+0.9%	16	2.09	+17.6%
Alexandria City, VA	$752,500	+9.1%	19	2.35	+22.6%
Fairfax County, VA	$752,250	−0.4%	13	1.97	+20.3%
Washington, DC	$681,500	+1.7%	28	4.91	−4.3%
Montgomery County, MD	$639,540	+3.3%	18	2.47	+18.3%
Prince George's County, MD	$445,000	+1.1%	27	3.33	+15.5%

Source: Bright MLS, August 2026 Local Markets data

Read the last two columns together. DC has roughly twice the supply of the Virginia suburbs, and it is the only column entry with a minus sign on inventory. Everyone else is building inventory from a very tight base. DC is drawing down inventory from a comparatively loose one.

Region-wide, the DC Metro posted a $640,000 median in August, up 2.4%, at 19 days and 2.73 months of supply, with closed sales down 9.2%, new pendings down 11.5%, and active listings up 11.3%. DC underperformed the region on volume by a wide margin and outperformed it on time-to-contract improvement.

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The Condo vs. Rowhouse Split Is the Whole Story

If you take one thing from this report, take this: DC is not one market. The single most important thing a DC buyer or seller needs to understand this fall is which side of the condo/rowhouse line they're standing on.

Here is the region-wide property-type data for August 2026 — and because condos are such a large share of DC's housing stock, the condo column is effectively a DC forecast:

Metric (DC Metro)	Condos	Townhomes/Attached	Detached Single-Family
Median Sold Price	$386,500	$588,000	$835,000
YoY Price Change	−5.7%	−0.7%	+0.0%
Median Days on Market	34 (+9)	17 (+0)	14 (−3)
Months of Supply	4.30 (+1.19)	2.37 (+0.20)	2.15 (−0.10)
Closed Sales	890 (−22.7%)	1,106 (−2.7%)	1,875 (−5.0%)
Active Listings	4,337 (+28.2%)	2,756 (+9.6%)	4,187 (−1.3%)

Source: Bright MLS, August 2026, Washington DC Metro property-type reports

Three segments, three completely different markets. Condos: prices down 5.7%, nine days slower, supply up more than a full month, inventory up 28.2%, sales down 22.7%. Detached: flat pricing, three days faster, supply tighter, inventory down.

A DC seller who reads the citywide median of $681,500 and a 28-day time-to-contract and assumes both numbers describe their property is going to misprice. Those are blended numbers across two segments that are moving in opposite directions.

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If You're Selling a Condo in DC

This is the hardest assignment in the region right now, and it's a pricing job, not an auction job.

The regional condo segment is at 4.30 months of supply, 34 days on market, and −5.7% on price. Closed condo sales are down 22.7%. What that means for you concretely:

• Price off recent condo comps in your building or a directly comparable one. Not off rowhouse comps. Not off spring 2026 numbers — the spring market and the fall market are two different pricing regimes, and the condo segment moved the most between them.
• Plan for a 30-to-45-day marketing window, not a weekend.
• Your one structural advantage is that DC-specific inventory fell 4.3% while regional condo inventory rose 28.2%. The inventory pile-up is happening in suburban buildings, not in DC proper. You have less local competition than the regional numbers imply.
• Get your reserve study and fee history in front of buyers early. In a segment with negative price movement, buyers are underwriting the building as hard as the unit. Removing that uncertainty is worth more than a price cut of the same magnitude.

A DC condo seller pricing off rowhouse comps or off spring numbers will sit. That's the single most common mistake I expect to see this fall.

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If You're Selling a Rowhouse or Detached Home in DC

Your segment is the strongest in the region, and the citywide numbers understate you.

Regionally, townhomes are at 2.37 months of supply and 17 days with essentially flat pricing (−0.7%); detached is at 2.15 months, 14 days, flat pricing, and inventory down 1.3%. Both are dramatically tighter than DC's blended 4.91 months and 28 days.

Practically:

• Price to comparable attached or detached sales in your quadrant, not to the citywide median. A Capitol Hill rowhouse and a Southwest condo are not in the same market. If you want neighborhood-level context, the Capitol Hill guide, Petworth guide, and Columbia Heights guide go block by block.
• New listings are down 15.9% citywide. Fewer competing rowhouses are coming to market this fall than last. That is a real, temporary advantage.
• Don't over-read the 19.5% sales drop. Region-wide, detached closings fell only 5.0% and townhomes only 2.7%. The volume collapse is concentrated in the condo tier.

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If You're Buying in DC

DC is the most negotiable major market in the DMV, and it isn't close.

At 4.91 months of supply, DC sits just below the textbook balanced range of four to six months — while Fairfax is at 1.97, Loudoun at 2.09, Alexandria at 2.35, Arlington at 2.44, and Montgomery at 2.47. Every Virginia and Maryland neighbor is under 2.5. Add a 28-day median time to contract — the regional slowest after Prince George's at 27 — and you have actual room to work.

What that buys you in practice: time to see a property twice, a real inspection contingency, negotiation on price and closing help and repairs simultaneously, and leverage that a Fairfax buyer competing on a 13-day listing simply does not have.

But calibrate by segment. If you're buying a DC condo, you have the strongest position of any buyer in the region — 4.30 months of regional supply, 34 days, and negative price movement. If you're buying a rowhouse or a detached house in upper Northwest, you're in a 14-to-17-day market and should plan to compete.

Two diligence priorities for condo buyers specifically: the reserve study and the fee trajectory. In a segment with soft pricing, the money buyers actually lose is to a special assessment, not to overpaying by 2% on the contract price. The DC condo market deep dive covers what to pull and what to look for.

If you're still weighing jurisdictions, Montgomery County vs. DC and Maryland vs. Virginia vs. DC lay out the tradeoffs on taxes, commute, and housing stock. And if you want to see what's actually available right now, start with homes for sale in Washington, DC.

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What Bright MLS Expects This Fall

Bright MLS's outlook for the months ahead is straightforward: rates remain elevated, affordability is a growing challenge, and buyers are holding back. They expect a slow fall market — fewer buyers and fewer sellers, slower price growth, and longer times to sell.

On rates, Freddie Mac's weekly 30-year fixed survey has run roughly in the 6% to 7% band over the past year and has recently drifted toward the upper end of that range (Freddie Mac PMMS). That is the mechanism behind DC's 19.5% sales drop and 10.6% showing decline — not a collapse in demand for DC as a place to live.

DC's August data is consistent with that outlook, with one wrinkle: the seller pullback here is sharper than the buyer pullback. That's what keeps months of supply flat at 4.91 instead of rising, and it's why the median went up rather than down.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the median home price in Washington DC right now?

The median sold price in Washington, DC was $681,500 in August 2026, up 1.7% from August 2025 and about $9,000 above July 2026's $672,500. That's above the DC Metro median of $640,000 but below Arlington ($860,729), Loudoun ($771,250), Alexandria ($752,500), and Fairfax ($752,250).

Is Washington DC a buyer's market in fall 2026?

DC is the most negotiable major market in the DMV at 4.91 months of supply — just under the 4-to-6-month balanced range — versus 2.73 months region-wide and under 2.5 months in every Virginia and Maryland neighbor. With a 28-day median time to contract, DC buyers, and condo buyers especially, have real negotiating room.

Why did DC home sales drop 19.5% in August 2026?

Closed sales fell to 438 in August 2026 from the prior August, the steepest decline of any major DC Metro jurisdiction. The driver is supply, not collapsing demand: new listings fell 15.9% while new pending sales fell 14.6% and showings fell 10.6%. Fewer homes came to market, so fewer sold — and the median still rose 1.7%.

Are DC condo prices falling in 2026?

Across the DC Metro, condo median prices were down 5.7% year over year in August 2026 at $386,500, with days on market up nine to 34 and active listings up 28.2%. That's the weakest segment in the region by a wide margin. DC's citywide median still rose 1.7% because DC-specific inventory fell 4.3% and the rowhouse and detached tiers held flat.

How long does it take to sell a house in Washington DC?

The median was 28 days from list to contract in August 2026 — five days faster than August 2025, but well above the metro median of 19 days and the slowest of any jurisdiction in the region, with Prince George's County next at 27 days. That blended figure hides a wide split: regionally, detached homes contracted in 14 days and condos in 34.

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Related August 2026 Market Reports

• DC Metro housing market — August 2026 — full regional report with property-type breakdown
• Washington DC housing market — July 2026 — last month, for the trendline
• Washington DC condo market 2026 — condo-specific deep dive
• Capitol Hill DC neighborhood guide
• Petworth DC neighborhood guide
• Columbia Heights DC neighborhood guide
• Montgomery County vs. DC and Maryland vs. Virginia vs. DC — jurisdiction comparisons

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What I'm Seeing on the Ground

The DC market I'm working in right now is thin on both sides. Fewer listings each week, fewer buyers at each one. That's a market where the quality of the pricing decision matters far more than the quantity of showings, because you may not get a second wave of traffic to correct with.

The split I keep coming back to with clients: a rowhouse in a good block is still a 2-to-3-week proposition if it's priced right, and a condo in a building with soft comps and an unclear reserve picture can sit through the fall. Same city, same month, entirely different conversations.

For buyers, 4.91 months of supply in DC while Fairfax sits at 1.97 is the clearest arbitrage in the region. If a DC condo works for your life, this is a genuinely good moment to be the one making offers — provided you underwrite the building as carefully as the unit.

If you want a straight read on your building, your block, or your budget — DC, MD, or VA — that's the conversation I'm happy to have.

Get in touch →