The District of Columbia housing market, by the numbers.
Median sale price, days on market, and what a traditional sale really costs a District of Columbia seller — every figure on this page comes from the source cited next to it.
- Median sale price: $740,000
- Median days on market: 47
- Typical selling costs: ~6.95% of the price
- Foreclosure timeline: 2 to 4 months
Planning a District of Columbia sale?
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The headline numbers.
Each figure comes from the source cited under it. Medians describe the middle of the District of Columbia market, not any specific house.
Selling the traditional way in District of Columbia: the math.
The same arithmetic an agent would run at your kitchen table, worked on the District of Columbia median sale price.
How to read this: on the $740,000 median sale, the traditional route leaves roughly $688,570 before loan payoff, repairs, and the holding costs (effective property tax ~0.56%/yr per the Tax Foundation, plus insurance and utilities) that stack up while you wait about 47 days on market. These are estimates worked on the District of Columbia median; your actual costs vary by county, property, and buyer.
The District of Columbia foreclosure clock.
District of Columbia uses a non-judicial foreclosure process, and a typical case runs 2 to 4 months — that window is how much real time an owner has to catch up, refinance, or sell.
How long it really takes: Practitioner estimate (not statute): federal rules require 120+ days of delinquency before foreclosure can start. DC's power-of-sale statute exists (§42-815), but after the 2010 'Saving D.C. Homes from Foreclosure Act' added the mediation-certificate requirement (a non-compliant sale is VOID), title insurers largely stopped insuring nonjudicial residential foreclosures — so lenders now regularly foreclose JUDICIALLY in D.C. Superior Court. Expect a judicial case to run roughly 1 year at minimum and often 2+ years if contested, versus ~6 months minimum under the rarely-used nonjudicial track.
Primary statute: D.C. Code §42-815. This is general information, not legal advice — confirm the specifics with a local attorney.
If you need to sell fast.
The numbers above describe the traditional route in District of Columbia: roughly 6.95% of the price in selling costs and about 47 days of waiting before a financed buyer even closes. When time is the real problem — a foreclosure date, back taxes, a move that can't wait — some owners trade part of the headline price for speed and certainty by selling as-is to a cash buyer.
Where we fit: Fair Home Cash is a connector, not the buyer. We put District of Columbia homeowners in touch with independent cash buyers who purchase houses as-is; buyers pay us a flat marketing fee for the connection, and we never take a cut of your sale. Requesting offers is free, and you decide what happens next.
See what the District of Columbia numbers mean for your house.
Compare the traditional math above with a fast as-is sale — free tools, sourced data, and a timeline you control.
Selling fast in District of Columbia →