Buyers in the Washington, D.C., area pulled back hard in October. New purchase contracts in the metro fell 20.4% from a year earlier, the steepest drop among the three metros broken out in Bright MLS’s monthly report. Across the Mid-Atlantic, active listings rose 22.1% as sellers continued to outnumber buyers.
The October 2026 Housing Market Report, released Nov. 10, covers the multiple listing service’s territory in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Bright describes itself as the largest MLS in the country.
Mid-Atlantic housing market by the numbers
Region-wide, the report counted 16,794 closed sales in October, down 12.0% from October 2025. New purchase contracts, a forward-looking measure of demand, fell 17.4% to 17,784. Showings dropped 12.8% to 244,073.
Supply kept building even though fewer owners listed. New listings slipped 2.0% to 25,092, but active inventory at the end of the month reached 58,931 homes, up 22.1% from a year ago. The median home took 18 days to sell, two days longer than in October 2025.
Prices held. The regional median sold price was $425,000, unchanged from a year earlier.
Bright tied the slowdown to borrowing costs and economic uncertainty. It noted that the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate in October 2026 was a full percentage point higher than a year earlier.
“Buyers are holding back this fall with rates above 7%,” said Lisa Sturtevant, Bright MLS’s chief economist. She added that higher-income and cash buyers are still in the market, “but it has gotten very difficult for first-time and moderate-income buyers.”
Three metros, three versions of the slowdown
Washington, D.C. Contract signings fell 20.4%, the sharpest decline of the three metros, and showings fell 15.2%. The median price slipped 0.8% to $625,000. New listings fell 6.1% to 5,545, and active listings were up 22.1%. Homes sold in a median 16 days, one day slower than a year earlier. Bright’s outlook for the metro is “sluggish conditions as buyers look to 2027 for better conditions.”
Baltimore. New contracts fell 17.4% to 2,517, and showings were down 15.5%. The median price was flat at $405,000. New listings fell 4.0% to 3,533, while active inventory rose 22.1%. Baltimore had the biggest slowdown in pace: the median home sold in 19 days, four days slower than a year ago. Bright’s one-line outlook: “Tepid market and softer home prices.”
Philadelphia. Philadelphia held up best on price. The median sold price rose 2.8% to $400,000, even as contracts fell 15.3% to 5,376 and showings dropped 9.2%. Inventory climbed the most of the three, up 23.9% to 16,215 active listings. New listings were down 2.3% at 7,392, and the median home took 17 days to sell, two days slower than last year. Bright’s read is that higher-income buyers are still active while rate-sensitive buyers sit out.
No turn expected before year-end
The report is blunt about the near term. “There are few, if any, signs that market conditions will change in the months ahead,” Bright wrote. It expects sales to stay sluggish through the end of the year. Inventory should keep rising, but Bright does not expect significant price drops in most of its markets “as both buyers and sellers are retreating.”
The Mid-Atlantic numbers landed the same day Redfin reported that U.S. home-sale prices fell 0.4% in October, the first annual decline since 2023. They also follow an October consumer price report that ran hotter than expected and put another Federal Reserve rate increase back in discussion.
On our reading, the Bright data show what that rate backdrop is doing on the ground. Contracts are falling faster than closings, and inventory is building faster than new listings. That points to softer closed sales in November and December, and to more negotiating room for buyers who can still qualify. Bright itself stops short of forecasting price cuts, and the region-wide median has so far held flat even as listings pile up. Whether that holds through the slow winter months is the question the next few monthly reports will start to answer.
More regional and national market coverage is on our housing market page.
