Has the DOGE team caused a "very real exodus" from the Washington, D.C., area as evidenced by a big surge in the number of homes listed for sale in the market? No, that's not true: The number of new residential real estate listings in the market in the first two weeks of February 2025 is almost exactly the same as during the same two weeks a year earlier, according to a market expert. The Redfin database confirmed the listings are tracking the same seasonal levels as the previous three years.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X on February 14, 2025. It read:
REAL ESTATE: The @Doge team is causing a very real exodus from Washington DC. Housing listings are surging--over 14,825 in this snapshot alone. It's less of a market shift and more of a mass evacuation, like rats fleeing a sinking ship.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Screenshot of X taken Tue February 18, 2025)
The map featured in the post is a screenshot of a listing search of the Washington, D.C., area on Zillow. The post noted there were 14,825 listings found in the area. Lead Stories saved a screenshot of the same geographic area on February 18, 2025, at least five days later, and found there were 14,533 listings.
(Screenshot of Zillow.com taken Tue February 18, 2025)
Lead Stories spoke with Jeff Kottmeier, senior vice president of consulting with John Burns Research and Consulting, about the market trends in the area. Kottmeier said on February 18, 2025, that there is uncertainty in the Washington economy because of layoffs in both the federal government and private sector, but it is not yet reflected in the listings of homes for sale.
The seasonal trend is confirmed by the Redfin Data Center, which tracks real estate listings nationally. This screenshot of a Lead Stories inquiry with Redfin shows the pace of new listings in the D.C. metro area parallels the last three years. The green line reflects the first six weeks of 2025.
(Screenshot of Redfin taken Tue February 18, 2025)
This screenshot compares the trend in listing prices in Washington, D.C., with other metro areas in the United States. D.C. is the yellow line, which reflects the same ups and downs generally in the other areas.
(Screenshot of Redfin taken Tue February 18, 2025)
The combination of the Redfin data, the lack of an increase in Zillow listings in the previous five days and the analysis of the market expert serve to debunk the claim that there is a mass exodus of property owners from the nation's capital as the Trump/Musk DOGE team makes its way through federal departments and agencies in February 2025.
Other Lead Stories fact checks about claims that involve DOGE can be found here.
