In February 2009, the real estate market remained slow. The average days to sell a property remained high (about 3 ½ months) and the average sales price remained low. However, the absorption rate and number of sales both increased. As I mentioned last month, we are starting 2009 off with an abundance of homes for sale. However, this year should be different due to the low interest rates on home loans, low home values, government financial incentives to first time home buyers, and the strengthening on our overall economy.
Attention Buyers and Real Estate Investors! I believe that we are entering the strongest buyers market that we have seen in a long time. Sales prices should remain flat for the entire year, while the number of sales will steadily increase.
Absorption Rate - 1.3 out of every 10 homes for sale sold last month
The average absorption rate increased last month, changing from 11% in January to 13% in February. We are now approaching the 2009 Spring real estate market. It is an excellent time to buy a home! The inventory is high and should remain high due to new listings that I expect to see soon. I expect that the demand for these homes will increase this year, but the huge inventory will offset the increase in demand. Therefore, we will mostly remain in a strong buyers market for the entire year.
Days on Market - The homes that sold last month were on the market for 118 days
The average time to sell a home remained the same last month. It still takes over three and a half months to sell a property in the current market. I expect to see an increase in the in the days on market due to the anticipated number of short sale (pre-foreclosure) homes for sale this year. These transactions may take months to close and therefore may increase the overall average days to sale for the area.
Sales Price - The average home sold for $2,000 less last month
The Average sales prices in the region decreased only slightly last month.
Montgomery County ($421,706; .03% drop)
Fairfax County ($374,856; 3.92% jump)
Arlington County ($457,955; 1.83% drop)
Washington D.C. ($473,556; 4.41% drop)
Baltimore County ($263,788; .49% drop)
Prince Georges County ($234,423; 7.09% drop)
I expect to see property values to remain flat for the entire 2009 year!
Number of Sales - The average number of sales decreased last month
The number of sales increased 5.6% in February. I expect to see the number of sales increase steadily through the 2009 year.
By: Adam Iobst A-Team Realty, LLC
For Additional Information visit http://www.a-teamhomesales.com/
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