How is the Northern Virginia Real Estate Market as of Oct. 2011?

Can you believe we are almost of the year end....beganing of the year started with an anxiety no tax credit to get the buyers off the fence. However as you have heard and read the low interest rate and strong unemployment did have a huge impact in the Norther Virginia Real estate market.

As per the latest numbers released on Oct 10th from RBI a local MRIS based company the headline goes:

" DC Metro Sold Price Highest in September 2011 in four Years" 

OVERVIEW

Home sales in the Washington, D.C. metro area headed into the slower fall market losing some momentum as expected following the end of Washington’s seasonal summer peaks. There were 3,829 new contacts written in September 2011 beating September 2010 by 12.4% and 11.7% ahead of the  five year September average. The total September contracts were 8.2% less than the 4,169 contracts signed in August 2011, consistent with the decrease in seasonal activity.   At $338,000, the median sales price for  September 2011  showed  some resilience as it was the highest September level since 2008.  

Other Key trend from the report:

 September contracts reflected long term seasonal trends. There were 3,829 contracts signed in September 2011, 8.2% less than the 4,169 contracts signed in August, but September’s total was still 11.7% ahead of the 5-year September average.  The monthly total was the highest number of September signed contracts in 5 years.  New pending sales were 12.4% above September 2010.

Median sales price lower than previous month, consistent with seasonal patterns.  The median sales price for September 2011 was consistent with seasonal long-term trends, declining 5.6%% to $338,000 from $356,000 in August 2011. The September 2011 median sales price represents a 2.4% increase year-over-year and is almost exactly in line with the 10 year average median sale price of $340,020.

Active inventory is considerably below the 5 year average. There were 14,791 active listings at the end of September 2011 which is 23.8% below the 19,401 monthly average of the past five years and down 13.9% from September 2010.  Buyers were faced with lower inventory to choose from than the same period a year ago, however, the number of active listings at the end of September did increase modestly by 3% over August 2011 levels.

Time to market a property higher than 5-year average. The average days on market prior to buyer and seller agreeing on terms was 77 days in September 2011, edging up 10% from 70 days in August2011 and still lower than the 81 day average for each September since 2007. The average discount from original list price was 6.7% in September 2011, 5.9% discount in the same month last year and 5.8% discount in August 2011

 The report includes : Washington, D.C., Montgomery County and Prince George’s County in Maryland, and Alexandria City, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Fairfax City, and Falls Church City in Virginia.

What is the Year end out look?

If you are a Northern Virginia home buyer who is on the fence and hoping/praying/wanting the market to start going down ward trend than you need stop and look around. Our market did hit hard when the first blow of foreclosure and short sales came around in 2007. However the upward trend both in resale an new contruction has been going steadly for past year. The low interest rate has attracted and convert lot of renters to become first time home buyeres. Apart from that we have a larger pool of relocation and home owners who are ready to move up.

So the trend still look strong and positive!

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Associate Broker
EcoBroker, ABR, ePRO
NVAR, Life Time Top Producer
NVAR,Multiple Million Dollar Sales Club Member
Samson Properties
Cell - 703-625-4949
Email - info@eNOVAHomes.com
Web: www.eNOVAHOMES.com