ZIP Market Deep-Dive · Washington, DC · May 2026
ZipBrief by Real Estate on Purpose May 2026
ZIP Market Deep-Dive · Washington, DC

Your market,
three layers deep.

1
Washington, DC neighborhoods — each read across seven cross-checked data sources, honestly labeled.
1 / 1
ZIPs now favor buyers
−0.7%
Real home-value trend, YoY average
6.48%
30-yr fixed — down 0.37 pts in a year
ZR
Prepared for the sphere of
ZipBrief Research
Market Data Team · ZipBrief by Real Estate on Purpose
Reporting window
Data through May 2026
realestateonpurpose.com/marketreport
ZipBrief by Real Estate on Purpose
Market Deep-Dive · May 2026
What’s inside

Contents

01 Capitol Hill
ZIP 20003 — strong buyer's market
 3 02 The month in one minute
Metro comparison, mortgage context & takeaways
 4
How to read this report — three sources, one honest picture
Sale medians
What homes actually closed for, on 90-day rolling windows. Jumps when the mix of homes selling shifts — not always when prices move.
Source · Redfin
Value index
A smoothed, gap-free estimate of what a typical home is worth. The number to trust for “what is my home doing.”
Source · Zillow ZHVI
Listings & leverage
Asking prices, price cuts, days on market and supply — the live signals of who holds negotiating power right now.
Source · Realtor.com
When these sources disagree, it usually means the kind of home selling changed — not that values jumped. Each page flags that, and trusts the smoothed value index for what your home is really worth.
REOP Prepared for the sphere of ZipBrief Research · ZipBrief by Real Estate on Purpose Page 2 / 4
Capitol Hill
ZIP 20003 · Section 01
Section 01 ZIP 20003

Capitol Hill

Strong buyer's market
Who holds leverage23/100 seller leverage
◀ BuyersBalancedSellers ▶
Over-asking 25Sale speed 17Price cuts 50Supply 0
Buyer attention 34/100 — cooler than 53% of its own last five years · Realtor.com hotness, Apr 2026
Neighborhood streetscape

Capitol Hill leans toward buyers — friendlier to them than in 77% of the last five years. Headline sale prices ticked up +4.3%, but a typical home’s value is actually −0.7% year over year.

$960K
Median sale · +4.3% YoY
$831K
Real value index · −0.7% YoY
50
Median days on market
27.7%
Listings with a price cut

By property type

90-day window · May 2026
TypeMedianSale YoYValue YoYSold
Single-family thin$1,115,000+11.5%−0.5%1
Townhouse$1,075,000−5.7%—49
Condo / co-op$526,000+11.9%−2.9%28
Multi-family thin$1,092,500+6.6%—4

Do the sources agree?

Redfin sale median
+4.3%
Zillow value index
−0.7%
Realtor list median
−5.7%

Diverging. The mix of homes selling shifted this quarter. For what your home is doing, trust the smoothed value index: −0.7%.

Sources disagree on Capitol Hill. Talk to ZipBrief for what it means for your home.

Five-year value trend

Apr 2021 · $869KApr 2026 · $831K
Moving 0.2 pts behind the Washington, DC metro overall (−0.7% vs −0.5%).

When this ZIP rewards sellers

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D

Homes listed to close in June sold above asking 43.5% of the time on average — vs just 27.2% in February.

$2,515/mo
Typical rent · −5.2% YoY
27.5
Price-to-rent ratio
Renting stays cheap relative to owning here.
What it means
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The month in one minute
Summary · Section 02
Summary

1 neighborhoods, one honest read

Buyers hold the leverage across all of these ZIPs — and the headline prices are quieter than they look.

Capitol HillZIP 20003Strong buyer's market
Sale median +4.3%, but a typical home’s value is −0.7% — the gap is mix, not momentum. 27.7% of listings have cut their price.
Real value vs the Washington, DC metro Zillow index, YoY
Capitol Hill20003
−0.7%
Washington, DC metro overallbenchmark
−0.5%

Each bar is the smoothed value index against the metro benchmark — the honest read on where values are actually moving.

6.48%
Average 30-year fixed mortgage rate, down 0.37 pts from a year ago.
National average · Freddie Mac via FRED · week of 2026-06-04
Three things to take from this month
Buyers hold the leverage
1 of 1 ZIPs favor buyers more than they have in most of the last five years. More price cuts, slower sales, fewer bidding wars — room to negotiate.
The headline is a mirage
Closing medians swung from +4.3% to +4.3%, yet every value index is flat to slightly down. The jumps are which homes sold, not your home gaining value.
Timing still matters
Each ZIP has its own sweet spot — June in Capitol Hill — when homes most often sell above asking. Listing date is a lever.
The bottom line

Across these neighborhoods, buyers have quietly gained the upper hand — and the splashy sale-price headlines mostly reflect a richer mix of homes selling, not rising values. For a homeowner, that means price to the smoothed value index, lean on seasonal timing, and use the falling rate as the conversation-starter with anyone weighing a move. The fundamentals are steady; the strategy is patience and precision.

Wondering what this means for your home? Talk to ZipBrief