The Washington DC housing market is in a standstill as federal employees’ cushy salaries are still under threat by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts. 

More than 25,000 rental properties and 9,800 homes are listed in the DC Metro area, with nearly 10,000 rentals and 500 homes just in the District of Columbia alone as of early April, according to Zillow. 

And although Spring is always a hot time on the market for sellers, buyers are hesitant to snap up homes as their federal and federally-adjacent jobs are still under the threat of massive layoffs as Musk worked to dismantle the government sector. 

‘[There’s a] fear of making big purchases,’ Charlie Latimer, 31, a DC-area lender, told DailyMail.com. ‘People are afraid of a recession.’ 

Roughly 40 to 50 percent of Latimer’s customers’ professions have some connection to the government and he found his clients were holding off on getting loans for their homes due to the uncertainty in the job market. 

And roughly 20 percent of his clients have a ‘fear of getting laid off’, he told DailyMail.com. 

Latimer and Keller Williams Realtor, Omer Reshid, 24, are seeing potential homebuyers being a ‘little more scared’ to seal the deal. 

People are ‘reconsidering their entire life structure’, right now, Reshid, who has worked in real estate for six years, told DailyMail.com. 

The Washington DC housing market is in a standstill as federal employees’ cushy salaries are still under threat by Elon Musk ‘s Department of Government Efficiency cuts

More than 25,000 rental properties and 9,800 homes are listed in the DC Metro area, with nearly 10,000 rentals and 500 homes just in the District of Columbia alone as of early April. Pictured on top map in red are homes for sale. On bottom map in purple are homes for rent

And although Spring is always a hot time on the market for sellers, buyers are hesitant to snap up homes as their federal and federally-adjacent jobs are still under the threat of massive layoffs as Musk (pictured with Trump) worked to dismantle the government sector 

Corcoran Realtor, David Howell, 69, agreed, saying the market has ‘soften[ed] a bit’ over the fear of job insecurity. 

‘People [who are] uncertain tend not to make big life decisions,’ he told DailyMail.com. ‘The market is still hot, just a little cooler.’ 

Keller Williams owner, Kymber Menkiti agreed, saying most people who are facing layoffs aren’t going to quickly offload and many will weigh their options. 

‘You don’t put your house on the market seven days after a layoff,’ she said. ‘That’s not driving it.’

Potential homebuyers are also hesitating as they wait for a recession to come full-throttle in hopes that homes rates will significantly decrease like in 2008. However, Latimer and Reshid don’t think they will.   

‘The best time to buy a house was five years ago,’ Latimer said. 

‘We don’t see prices coming down,’ Reshid said. ‘Everyone is holding off until the rates come down.’ 

Reshid recommends buying a home when your find it, rather than waiting for a miracle, and Menkiti agreed, as refinancing is always an option if you’re playing the ‘long game’. 

Charlie Latimer and Keller Williams Realtor, Omer Reshid, 24, are seeing potential homebuyers being a ‘little more scared’ to seal the deal. People are ‘reconsidering their entire life structure,’ right now, Reshid said 

As for people hightailing it out of the metropolitan, it’s not a huge amount, according to Howell and Kymber Menkiti. ‘It’s not a tsunami, it’s not a wave, it’s a ripple of people leaving,’ Howell said. ‘Not much of an exodus. People are bidding their time.’

However, despite what social media says, the DC housing market is not about to collapse, although there was a ‘slight’ uptick in offloads after the election. 

‘But nothing too significant,’ Reshid told DailyMail.com. ‘Every time administration changes, you’re going to see people coming in and coming out.’ 

New listings are up 40 percent in the Greater DC Region compared to a year ago, according to Bright MLS statistics. 

However, new pending contracts are up five percent and showings are up nearly 13 percent, compared to last year. 

Reshid said there was a bigger spring market in 2024 than what they’re seeing in 2025.  

‘It’s a seasonal trend,’ Menkiti, who started her real estate career in 2007, said. ‘It’s really not tied to the federal change.’ 

Howell, who has studied the DC market every election since 2000, also agrees. Rarely does the market drastically change when the administration does – regardless of political party. 

In fact, he said the only reason the market has seen an uptick this time around is due to the Trump Administration drastically cutting the federal workforce. Musk announced on Wednesday that he would step down from DOGE. 

Howell, who has studied the DC market every election since 2000, also agrees. Rarely does the market drastically change when the administration does – regardless of political party. He said the only reason for the uptick is due to the Trump Administration drastically cutting the federal workforce (pictured: a home available to buy in DC)

However, the federal layoffs haven’t quite effected the DC market, as it’s too soon to tell and people are holding onto their homes. ‘You don’t put your house on the market seven days after a layoff,’ Menkiti said. ‘That’s not driving it.’

‘Political elections have very little impact,’ he said. ‘The only difference in this election is the objectives [of the administration].’ 

However, he also admitted it’s too early tell how the gigantic cuts to the federal workforce will truly impact the DC region, as right now, laid off workers are hunkering down and trying to figure it out.  

There was a slight upward trend of federal remote workers looking for places to live in the DC area as work-from-home policies were rapidly shifting in the government. Latimer found that those clients weren’t hesitating to sign loans like those who already live in the area. 

Although the trend has started to veer off as the policy becomes more clear to workers, Menkiti said. 

‘[It’s a] little bit of whiplash,’ Menkiti told DailyMail.com. 

Overall, all four told DailyMail.com that the biggest obstacle for DC buyers and renters is affordability as the metropolitan area is facing a crisis in that regard. And that there’s a lot of uncertainty in the market right now that is stressing it as people become immobilized by fear. 

As for people hightailing it out of the metropolitan, it’s not a huge amount, according to Howell and Menkiti. 

‘It’s not a tsunami, it’s not a wave, it’s a ripple of people leaving,’ Howell said. ‘Not much of an exodus. People are bidding their time.’