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Prices, inventory, and demand — distilled every month into one clear verdict: buyer’s market or seller’s. The investor’s read, before you make an offer.
The median asking price in Washington is about $567,000 as of Oct 2026, down 2.6% from a year ago. That is the asking price on listed homes, so sold-price and home-value sites show different numbers (why).
Only on the right house. Neither side has the upper hand in Washington right now. Washington is close to its 2017–2019 normal for this time of year. The market will not hand you a discount. You have to find it in one specific listing.
Asking price per square foot in Washington is 16.6% below its Jan 2021 high and down 3.3% over the last year. Prices were above the year before in 35% of months since the data starts, so drops here have not always reversed quickly. 18% of sellers have cut their price. Underwrite with no price growth for now and let the seller carry the next cut.
There are 3,038 homes for sale in Washington, 75% more than in 2017–2019 at this time of year. The build-up is biggest in 20024 (127 for sale, 259% above its 2017–2019 level) and 20032 (102 for sale, 206% above its 2017–2019 level). More choice means you can walk away from any home priced for the market of three years ago.
The population in Washington's ZIP codes fell 1.6% over five years. 10.1% of homes are vacant, higher than 74% of tracked cities. Households still grew 14.2% while the housing stock grew 14.7%. Fewer people living in more households means rental demand has held up better than the population suggests. Check vacancy by ZIP before you buy.
The median asking price is 21.1% below its Mar 2020 peak. You are not buying at the top. Prices are still falling. Waiting has paid off so far. Let listings age, then come back lower. Washington prices rose in just 39 of 112 months. Prices here mostly do not grow. Buy this market for rent income.
This market is turning. Which way is not settled yet. Check the monthly numbers above before you commit.
For every 100 homes still for sale, 20 are under contract. In 2017–2019 at this time of year it was 21. The rest are still waiting for a buyer. About 1 in 5 sellers has already dropped their price. Each one has learned their first price was too high. Start your offer below their new price.
Washington listings spend a median 51 days on the market. There are 3,038 homes for sale in Washington. That is the most in ten years. It is 3 times the low of Feb 2018. Every one of them competes with the house you want.
Most Washington households rent. 58 out of every 100 households are renters. That share has held steady for five years. Washington added about 24,000 renter households in five years. Renter households average 1.8 people. Singles and couples rent here. Two bedrooms beat four.
The median Washington household earns $115,754 a year. Incomes here have grown 4.7% a year since 2019. Incomes are rising faster than home prices. Affordability is improving. A typical home costs 4.9 times the median income. That is the national middle. Neither cash flow nor appreciation is free here. At 30% of income, a tenant on the median income can pay about $2,894 a month.
To see what one Washington address would rent for and cash flow, run it through the app.
Across 9 full years, Washington asking prices ran lowest in February, about 2.4% below the year's average. They peaked in June. The most homes for sale show up in October, about 22% above the yearly average. Shop in October for choice, and expect the softest asking prices in February.
Read how price cuts signal a market turning and how we read these numbers, then run the numbers on a deal.
The median asking price in Washington is about $567,000 as of Oct 2026, down 2.6% from a year ago. This is the asking price on homes listed for sale. Sites that report sold prices or estimated home values will show a different number. Our Washington figures cover 50 of the 228 ZIP codes with a Washington mailing address, so citywide counts such as homes for sale run low.
Neither side has the upper hand in Washington right now. We compare Washington with 2017–2019 at this time of year: there are 75% more homes for sale; listings spend 55% more days on the market; 18% of sellers have cut their price, against 20% then.
The median asking price is 21.1% below its Mar 2020 peak. You are not buying at the top. Prices are still falling. Waiting has paid off so far. Let listings age, then come back lower.
20024. Only 9 homes under contract for every 100 still for sale. 19% of sellers there have cut their price, and listings there spend a median 69 days on the market.
Assume -2.4% a year. Washington barely grew over the decade. Ignore that rate. Most of it landed in the 2020 and 2021 boom. Without the boom, Washington loses about 2.4% a year. That is the number to type in. Prices fell 3.3% over the last year. Use it for timing. The five-year rate is the better guide.
HUD's fiscal year 2026 fair market rent for District of Columbia is $2,246 a month for 2 bedrooms and $2,835 for 3 bedrooms. The figures include tenant-paid utilities and cover the whole county.
No ZIP is on both lists. In Washington you pick leverage or growth. You cannot have both.
| ZIP | $/sqft, 2 yrs | $/sqft now | Buyers per home | For sale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20037 | +4.2% | $635 | 0.10 | 126 |
| 20001 | -0.3% | $597 | 0.16 | 268 |
| 20015 | -2.9% | $562 | 0.25 | 51 |
| 20002 | -3.2% | $487 | 0.16 | 382 |
| 20004 | -5.9% | $572 | 0.04 | 28 |
Computed from each ZIP's own ten-year history. ZIPs with fewer than 10 homes for sale are excluded: a median across a handful of listings is noise, not a signal.
Washington has 228 ZIP codes. Each links to its live market dashboard.
Closest matches on asking price, price per square foot, time on market, buyer demand, and price cuts.
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