If you've been sitting on the fence about selling your home in the DC area — and you've been Googling "is now a good time to sell" at 11 o'clock at night — this episode is for you. I'm James Buckley with Canopy Property Group. I've been selling real estate in DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia for over 15 years, and I can tell you: right now is one of the most misunderstood moments I've seen in this market in a long time. People are hearing scary headlines. Federal layoffs. Rising inventory. Prices softening. And they're either panicking and rushing to list — or freezing up entirely. Today, I'm going to give you the real picture. Not the headlines. The actual data. And by the end of this, you'll know exactly where you stand — whether you're in DC proper, suburban Maryland, or Northern Virginia — because those are three very different conversations right now. Let's get into it. First, let's set the stage. The DC metro area is going through something that economists call a normalization. After years of a seller's market — where homes were flying off the market in days with multiple offers well above asking — things have shifted. And that shift is making a lot of sellers nervous. Here's what the data actually says. Bright MLS — which is the primary listing service for our region and one of the most credible data sources we have — is projecting that the DC metro will be the only Mid-Atlantic region to see a price decline in 2026. We're talking about a roughly one percent drop. The regional median price is expected to move from about $623,000 last year down to around $617,000 this year. Now before you panic, let me give you some perspective. One percent. On a $617,000 home, that's about six thousand dollars. That's not a crash. That's not even a correction, really. That's a market exhaling after years of running a fever. Active listings across the metro are up over thirty percent year over year. That's real. That means buyers have more choices than they did a year ago. And when buyers have choices, they become more selective, they take more time, and they push back harder on price and condition. Days on market are also up across the board. In DC proper, homes are averaging around 108 days on market. In Northern Virginia, it's closer to 35 to 44 days depending on the submarket. Suburban Maryland sits somewhere in between. That's the macro picture. But here's what I want you to really take away: the DC metro is not one market. It never has been, but that distinction matters more today than it ever has. So let me break this down by where you actually live, because your zip code is telling a completely different story depending on which side of the state line you're on. If you're in Washington DC proper — this is where the market has softened the most, and the reason is specific. Federal government uncertainty — DOGE, workforce reductions, return-to-office mandates — is hitting demand in DC harder than anywhere else in the region. People don't know if they're going to have a job tomorrow, and that hesitation is directly showing up in buyer activity. Condos in DC are getting hit the hardest. Remote work reduced demand for small urban units, inventory is piling up, and HOA fees are creating additional buyer resistance. If you're selling a DC condo, you need to go in with eyes wide open, price aggressively on day one, and do not expect the market to reward wishful thinking. Single-family homes in strong DC neighborhoods — Capitol Hill, Georgetown, Cleveland Park — are holding up better. But even those sellers are seeing more contingencies, more inspection negotiations, and longer timelines than they saw two or three years ago. If you're in Northern Virginia — this is a fundamentally different story. And this is where I see the biggest disconnect between what sellers hear in the news and what's actually happening on the ground. Arlington and Alexandria are outperforming the rest of the region. The NVAR and George Mason forecast is projecting around four percent price appreciation for Arlington single-family homes this year, and even higher for Alexandria — closer to four-and-a-half percent. Loudoun and Fairfax counties are also holding steady, with median prices ranging from the upper $600s to the low $800s depending on the submarket. Why? Because Northern Virginia's economy isn't solely dependent on the federal government the way DC proper is. You've got defense contractors, tech, Amazon's HQ2 effect in Arlington — there's a private sector cushion that DC simply doesn't have. Show-ready homes in NoVA are still moving in 17 to 35 days and closing at 99 to 100 percent of asking price. That's still a functional seller's market if you show up prepared. If you're in suburban Maryland — Montgomery County, Prince George's County — you're in the middle. Contract activity is actually up year over year — about 17 percent in January 2026 versus January 2025, which is a real positive signal. But days on market have jumped significantly — from 30 days last year to 54 days this year in some submarkets. Montgomery County in particular is being described as the Goldilocks market of the DC metro right now. Not too hot, not too cold. Buyers have options, but well-priced homes are still getting absorbed. Okay. So given everything I just laid out — is now a good time to sell? The real answer is: it depends on three things. Why you're selling, where your home is, and whether you're willing to price it correctly. Let me take those one at a time. Why are you selling? If you're selling because of a life event — job change, growing family, divorce, estate, downsizing — the market timing conversation is almost irrelevant. You sell when you need to sell. And here's what I'll tell you: DC metro home values are still roughly 69 percent above the national median. Most sellers who bought even five or six years ago have significant equity. A one percent price softening doesn't wipe that out. If you're selling purely to time the market — trying to catch a peak — I'd be honest with you: you probably already missed the peak. That was 2022. But sitting and waiting for the market to come back to those levels while inventory climbs around you is not a strategy. Where is your home? I just walked you through the breakdown. If you're in core NoVA or a strong DC neighborhood with a detached single-family home, you have more runway than you think. If you're in a condo in DC or an outer suburban submarket, you need to be realistic about what the data is telling you. Are you willing to price it right? This is where most sellers lose money. Not from the market. From overpricing on day one and chasing the market down with reductions. A price reduction doesn't just mean less money — it signals to buyers that something is wrong, it extends your days on market, and it typically results in a lower final sale price than if you'd priced correctly from the start. The sellers winning in this market are the ones who come in priced accurately, show up in great condition, and execute a real marketing strategy. The sellers struggling are the ones who priced for 2022 and are now on their third price drop. So let me bring this home. Is now a good time to sell in the DC area? The honest answer is yes — with conditions. The market is more nuanced than it's been in years, and the difference between a great outcome and a painful one comes down to preparation, positioning, and pricing. If you're thinking about selling in DC, Maryland, or Northern Virginia this year, the most important thing you can do right now is get a real comparative market analysis — not a Zillow estimate, not a Redfin algorithm — a CMA done by someone who actually knows your neighborhood, your property type, and what buyers are paying right now. That's what we do at Canopy Property Group. If you want to have that conversation, reach out to me directly at canopy-re.com. I'm James Buckley. Thanks for listening — and I'll see you on the next one.

-James Buckley, owner of Canopy Property Group at EXP Realty, best real estate agent in Potomac MD