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.
| District of Columbia metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | $740,000 | Redfin state market tracker, May 2026 |
| Median days on market | 47 days | Redfin state market tracker, May 2026 |
| Average agent commission | 4.5% (≈ $33,300) | Clever, Feb 2026 survey (DC avg) |
| Seller closing costs | 1% (≈ $7,400) | Redfin national est., May 2026 (low end of 1-3% range excl. commission, transfer tax itemized separately) |
| Seller transfer tax | 1.45% (≈ $10,730) | DC deed transfer tax, seller-paid, 1.45% for sales of $400K+ (buyer pays separate recordation tax) (HomeLight, Jan 2025) |
Data updated: September 2026
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 cost of waiting: District of Columbia's effective property-tax rate runs about 0.56% a year (Tax Foundation). Worked on the $740,000 median home, that's roughly $4,144 a year in property tax — call it $534 accrued across the 47-day (about 7-week) median wait for a traditional sale, before insurance and utilities, and on top of the selling costs above. The longer a District of Columbia listing sits past the median, the bigger that carrying cost grows.
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.
Your cash option: You can request offers on District of Columbia houses sold as-is — no repairs, no commissions, no fees to you. 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 →