There are a lot more for sale signs outside homes in Washington, D.C., lately.
The number of homes for sale in the capital went up a whopping 25.1% year over year during the four weeks ending April 27, according to a new analysis by Redfin, the nation’s largest brokerage website.
It’s the largest increase on record, and the highest level since 2022. The big jump comes as active listings nationwide went up just 14.2% over the same time period, the smallest rise since March 2024.
The reason? It’s the Trump administration’s massive reductions in the federal workforce, Redfin says. At least 12% of the 2.5 million civilian federal government employees around the country could end up being affected, The New York Times predicts.
The federal government provides 11.1% of the jobs in Washington, D.C., the biggest share of any of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas, the nonpartisan APM Research Lab, an arm of American Public Media, reported.
“Quite a few people in D.C. are selling their homes because they’re losing their jobs,” a local real estate agent, Mary Bazargan, said on the Redfin site, adding she’s been getting a lot of calls from prospective sellers waiting to hear if they’re getting laid off in the coming weeks.
Bazargan said the job cuts are impacting how sales are made.
“I recently worked with a buyer who bid on a home, offered more money than any other buyer and waived all contingencies,” she said. “Still, the seller ended up going with an all-cash offer because all of the layoff news made them nervous about accepting offers from financed buyers.”
Redfin said the Washington, D.C., housing market is still hotter than the rest of the country in some ways. Homes are selling more quickly and prices are climbing faster, too, with the median home sale price up 4.1% year over year in April compared to a national increase of 1.9%.
The federal government is also the largest employer in the U.S., “making up an important part of the workforce throughout the nation,” APM Research Lab said, with nearly 90% of workers based outside Washington, D.C.
That means the government positions being eliminated could affect housing markets well beyond the Beltway.
“What’s happening with housing inventory in Washington, D.C., could be a sign of what’s to come in other U.S. housing markets,” Redfin senior economist Asad Khan said. “And while strong housing demand is buoying prices in D.C., the rest of the country isn’t so hot. Other markets may not be able to absorb further inventory growth without prices softening.”