Inventory Low as Sales Prices Increase in Fairfax County

 * The average sales price of a single-family home rose 1.7 percent, to $636,957.

 * The average price of an attached home, such as townhouses or rowhouses, was up 9.6 percent to $351,929.

  * The average price of a condominium was up 9.2 percent to $270,333.

The median price of all homes that sold during the month across Fairfax County was $425,000, up nearly 9 percent from the $390,000 recorded a year before. The median is the point at which half of homes sell for more, half for less.

Total sales volume for the month was a healthy $529.9 million, up 35.4 percent from the $391.5 million reported a year before.

Of homes that went to closing in November, sellers received an average of 97 percent of original listing price, up from 95.6 percent for homes that sold in November 2011. And homes that sold during the month spent an average of 47 days on the market between listing and ratified sales contract, down from 61 days for those that sold a year before.

Nearly 58 percent of homes that sold during the month were on the market 30 days or less, while just 16 percent lingered on the market for three months or more. Inventory continued to be low, at least compared to the depths of the recession.

At the end of the month, there were 1,945 properties on the market across Fairfax, a decline of 29.2 percent from a year before.

The local real estate market now heads into the sometimes dormant winter months, and figures on pending sales suggest that coming months may not maintain the momentum of the last few.

 The total number of pending sales across the county in November stood at 1,833 at the end of the month, down about 5 percent from a year before. The number of new pendings that occurred during in the months also was down from a year before.

 Pending home sales usually translate into completed transactions within a month or two of posting.