Greater Washington, District of Columbia

Welcome to the Greater Washington HousingGauge, your weekly local market report for the week of October 5, 2026.

Here is the headline. Greater Washington's HousingGauge score is 40 out of 100, which puts the market in the RED zone. Conditions have weakened over the past three months, and financing remains expensive.

Three developments stand out this week.

First: Mortgage rates up 0.85 points in three months. The 30-year fixed rate averages 7.28%, versus 6.43% three months ago.

Second: Score down 13 points over 13 weeks. The score moved from 53 to 40 over the past 13 weeks, driven mainly by Mortgage Conditions (−7.0 points).

Third: Inventory up 11.6% year over year. 17,246 homes are listed for sale, equal to 3.3 months of supply.

Now, what is behind the score?

Mortgage Conditions scores 12 out of 100. The 30-year fixed rate averages 7.28%, up 0.82 percentage points over six months. Financing remains expensive, limiting affordability for leveraged buyers.

Supply & Buyer Leverage scores 48 out of 100. Inventory is 11.6% higher than a year ago (17,246 active listings), with 3.3 months of supply. Homes take a median 46 days to sell at 99.6% of list price, and 18.4% of listings have had a price cut. Negotiating leverage is fairly balanced between buyers and sellers.

Monetary Conditions scores 53 out of 100. The real policy rate is 1.24%, 0.23 points above the estimated neutral rate (r-star) of 1.01% — a near neutral stance. The fed funds rate has risen 0.24 points over six months.

Demand Trend scores 32 out of 100. Pending sales are 8.8% lower than a year ago and closed sales are 4.2% lower. Days on market are 8.0% longer than a year ago. Buyer demand has softened.

Valuation & Affordability scores 71 out of 100. The median home costs 4.6 times the median household income. Principal and interest on a typical purchase would take 30.5% of that income at current rates. Inflation-adjusted prices are 2.6% lower than a year ago. Valuations look comparatively reasonable.

Rental Economics scores 42 out of 100. A year of median rent equals 5.0% of the median price (a price-to-rent ratio of 20.1). Rents are up 0.8% year over year. Rental yields are thin relative to prices.

The score is down 1 point from last week's report (41 to 40). Over 13 weeks it is down 13 points, from 53 to 40. The largest contributors were Mortgage Conditions (−7.0 points) and Demand Trend (−4.8 points).

So what would move Greater Washington into the yellow? It would take several changes together: 30-year mortgage rate falls below 7.00% (now 7.28%); pending sales decline less than 5.5% year over year (now −8.8%); fed rate hikes stay under 0.05 pts over six months (now +0.24 pts); policy gap (real policy rate minus r-star) narrows below −0.05 pts (now +0.23 pts); months of supply rises above 3.8 months (now 3.3 months); and mortgage rates rise less than 0.35 pts over three months (now +0.85 pts).

And what could make conditions worse? Watch for these together: 30-year mortgage rate rises above 7.60% (now 7.28%); pending sales fall more than 13.0% year over year (now −8.8%); the Fed raises rates more than 0.45 pts over six months (now +0.24 pts); policy gap (real policy rate minus r-star) widens above +0.55 pts (now +0.23 pts); and months of supply falls below 2.6 months (now 3.3 months).

That is the Greater Washington HousingGauge for this week. The HousingGauge score describes market conditions. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell, and it is not individualized financial advice. For charts, sources and the full methodology, visit housinggauge.com. Thanks for listening.