The latest housing market snapshot for Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland shows a continued surge in active listings as the risk of a Doge-related recession looms around the Capitol Beltway.
Bright MLS, a multiple listing service covering the Mid-Atlantic region, released new weekly data through March 9 showing that active listings are piling up, totaling 31,597—up 20.2% from the same week one year ago. Week-over-week, active listings across the MLS service area have increased by 3.3%
Weekly active listings across the MLS service area have trended well above the last three years and have begun rising sharply in recent weeks. This increase is likely driven by the start of the spring selling season and rising concerns over a potential Doge-related recession.
The region, heavily reliant on the federal administrative state—now faces a vicious downturn after DOGE and the Trump administration made sizeable cuts to several federal agencies (see: here) and halted funding of corrupt Deep State NGOs that employ tens of thousands across the region.
Recall that Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo, recently said on BBG TV: "The consensus expects total DOGE-related job cuts to be 300,000 ... However, studies show that for every federal employee, there are two contractors."
"As a result, layoffs could potentially be closer to 1 million," Slok warned.
The latest jobs market data showed last month that DOGE-related layoffs are beginning to spike.
Given the mounting macroeconomic headwinds in the Mid-Atlantic, we questioned just yesterday - more broadly: Is Trump Trying to Push the U.S. Into a Recession?...
Shifting back to MLS data, the weekly snapshot of Washington, DC, shows active listings are up 32.8% versus the same period one year ago.
Here's a better way to visualize the active listing surge.
Is the median listing price in DC reversing with new supplies hitting the market?
In North Central Virginia, just south of DC, the data shows active listings are up 39.1% versus the same period one year ago.
A flood of supply is hitting several Mid-Atlantic housing markets, combined with surging layoffs of federal workers, contractors, and NGO staff. A perfect storm is brewing for the area.
The federal bureaucracy in these areas has never truly felt a proper downturn in the past few decades, thanks to the government's unlimited 'magic money tree' that has repeatedly bailed them out—while the rest of the country has been stuck in financial ruin.
