Montgomery County Real Estate: The Straight Read for the Week of September 21
Mortgage rates just took the biggest one-week jump of the run, prices are holding, and condos in North Bethesda are getting slower by the month. Here's what happened, no spin.
Every week I pull the actual numbers and tell you what's going on in Montgomery County. This week the headline is the rate. Last week I told you it had gone up three weeks running. Make it four, and it wasn't a nudge. It was a shove.
The mortgage rate: 6.95%, a 20-month high
The 30-year fixed jumped from 6.76% to 6.95%as of September 17 (Freddie Mac's weekly survey). That's 19 basis points in one week, the highest since January 2025, and up from 6.26% a year ago. Think of it as a team that was up by a few and just gave up a 10-0 run. It's still a game, but the pace changed.
30-year fixed rate, weekly average. Source: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS). Vertical axis starts at 6.6%, not zero, to show the weekly changes.
What does that mean in real life? Buyers who qualified for a payment last month are re-running the math, and some are finding it doesn't work anymore. That hits the under-$800K crowd first. If you're buying, talk to your lender this week about locking, and ask sellers about paying for a rate buydown. If you're selling, price it right the first time. The buyer pool just got a little smaller.
Prices: holding steady
No new county numbers this week. August is still the latest month: a median sold price of $640,000, up 3.8% from a year ago, with 779 closed sales (down from 878 last August). That's per Maryland REALTORS / Bright MLS. It's lower than June's $680,000, but that's the normal late-summer cool-down, not a correction.
Montgomery County median sold price by month, 2026. Sources: GCAAR (June), Maryland REALTORS / Bright MLS (July and August). Different reporters month to month, so read it as direction, not one continuous series. Bars start at zero.
One thing I'm watching: inventory. Maryland REALTORS says active listings are down from a year ago (2,032 vs. 2,375). Another source had them up 14–15%. They disagree, so I'm not going to tell you inventory is loosening until the data lines up.
The three markets inside the market
This is still the stat I use with every client. Montgomery County is three markets moving at three speeds. These are the latest Bright MLS segment numbers.
Median days on market by housing type, Bright MLS (not refreshed since last week). Supply: detached 1.62 months, townhome 1.68, condo 4.84. The condo figure may reflect the wider DC metro rather than Montgomery County alone.
A well-priced detached house is gone in about a week. A townhome takes a little longer. A condo is a different sport: 30-plus days and 4.84 months of supply. Selling a condo next to someone selling a detached house is like playing a doubleheader against two different teams.
The one thing to remember this week: North Bethesda and Rockville condos keep showing the strain. In zip 20852 (the heart of both), condo sales are down roughly 48% from 2022, the average price is flat at $419,303, and days on market rose from 35 to 42, while single-family homes in the same zip climbed about 19.4%. New this week: Redfin has all North Bethesda homes at 48 days on market versus 33 a year ago, selling about 2% under list. Same zip, two different markets. If you own or want a condo there, that changes your strategy.
Nine cities, one snapshot
Here's how the nine areas I work stack up. Fair warning: some of these numbers come from different sources and time windows, and a few sites report median listprice instead of what homes actually sold for. In small markets like Kensington and Chevy Chase, one big sale can swing a median. I'm flagging that instead of pretending the numbers are cleaner than they are.
| City | Median price | Days on market | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Bethesda | $625K–$760K (sources differ) | 48 (33 last yr) | Sells ~2% under list; condos softest |
| Rockville | $715K (+6.7% YoY) | ~29 | Price cuts at 22.2% of listings (last check) |
| Bethesda | $1.22M–$1.30M | 16–49 | Fast on best-priced homes, slower on average |
| Potomac | $1.21M–$1.4M (conflicting) | 48 (listed) | Direction unclear; small sample |
| Chevy Chase | $1.36M (-4.6% YoY) | 42–70 | Slower than a year ago (53) |
| Kensington | $781K (listed) | 32 | Low confidence; tiny sample |
| Silver Spring | $494K (listed) | 39 | Downtown condo pocket: 68 days |
| Gaithersburg | $545K (+0.3% YoY) | 34 (26 last yr) | Steadiest read; data through June |
| Takoma Park | $595K | 43 (39 last yr) | 47 sales in Aug vs. 52 last year |
Sources: Redfin city and neighborhood pages, Movoto (Kensington, Silver Spring), Bright MLS zip-level data (20852 condos), foxessellfaster.com (Bethesda). “Listed” means median list price, not sold price. Ranges reflect real disagreement between sources, not rounding.
The pattern: most of these cities show 29 to 49 days on the aggregator reads, with Chevy Chase out at 70, while the MLS-based county number for all homes is 19 to 22 days. Both are real. The aggregators lean on averages, which get pulled up by the slow sellers. Either way, the clock in nearly every city is a little slower than it was a year ago.
How I'd use this if you're selling
- Single-family: still in good shape if it's priced to the last 90 days of comps and shows well. Don't over-reach because you're hoping rates drop. This week they went the other way.
- Townhome: location and condition decide it. Expect buyers to push on price now that the payment went up.
- Condo, especially North Bethesda/Rockville: price it expecting a negotiation, not a bidding war. Have HOA docs and the reserve study ready before you list.
How I'd use this if you're buying
- Single-family: get pre-approved and be ready to move within the week. Re-check your payment at 6.95%, not 6.5%.
- Townhome: Metro-adjacent and end units go first.
- Condo in North Bethesda/Rockville: you have real leverage: flat pricing, longer days on market, and roughly half the 2022 sales volume. Negotiate on price, closing costs, and inspection, and ask about a seller-paid rate buydown.
- Everyone: don't sit and wait for 5% rates. They've gone up four weeks in a row.
That's the read for this week. If you want the numbers for your street or your building, just reach out.
— Mark
Sources: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (week of 9/17/26); Maryland REALTORS / Bright MLS August and July 2026 housing statistics via Washington Informer (9/14/26) and mdrealtor.org; GCAAR via MoCo Show (7/24/26); Bright MLS segment data via RLAH Real Estate and edwarddumi.com; Bright MLS zip-level data (20852) via mattsold.com (as of 8/24/26); Redfin city and neighborhood pages; Movoto; foxessellfaster.com.
Some figures come from sources that disagree, which is normal for real estate data, and I've noted the conflicts instead of hiding them. Segment data and some city figures were not refreshed this week.
Want the specifics for your street or building?
Reach out and I'll walk you through it.