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Arlington Virginia Housing Market Trends: Days on Market Headed Up

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Allegiance, Managing Broker/Branch Vice President

Arlington, Virginia has remained a very strong housing market throughout the turmoils of the housing slowdown in the Greater Washington D.C. area.  Arlington remains very desirable due to its proximity to D.C., the Orange Line metro running throughout the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, and the variety of housing styles and pricing options available.

Days on MarketQuick Arlington Sales Slowing Down Significantly 

Of the Arlington homes that went to settlement in the last 30 days, the average amount of time on the market was only 38 days.  This is still very fast and any Northern Virginia seller should be happy to have their home sell in such a short period. 

The graph below compares the days on market for Arlington homes sold in the various Arlington zip codes for closed sales within the last 30 days, pending (under contract) sales, and active property listings:

Throughout all of Arlington, the average days on market for pending sales is 64 days and the average for active listings is now 72 days.  In almost all areas, the days on market for pending sales and active listings is significantly higher than for the sales that closed in the last 30 days.

As this trend continues, we should be seeing price reductions on Arlington homes over the next 30 days as motivated Arlington sellers grow more anxious to get a sale. 

Pricing Report:  Listing Prices are Higher than Average Sales, but facing downward pressure; Pending Sales Prices Rise

The asking price for the current inventory of homes in Arlington is quite a bit higher than the recent sales prices.  The pending sales are also typically higher than last month's sales.  I expect that with the increase of days on market, we'll see prices stabilize around the average listing price of the pending properties.  Note: until settlement, we do not know the final sales price of the pending properties, so it may very well be lower than the reported listing prices. 

22201 Zip Code:  74 sales in July 2007 averaging $578,855.  Average pending sale is $665,040; average list price of 138 properties on the market is $704,400.  Most popular areas for sales in July were 1800 Wilson condominiums, Odyssey Condos, Ashton Heights, Courthouse Hill, and Westview at Ballston.

22202 Zip Code: 23 sales in July 2007 averaging $566,928.  Average pending sale is $579,313; average list price of 53 active properties is $620,378.  Most popular sales areas were Addison Heights and Aurora Hills.

22203 Zip Code: 32 sales in July 2007 averaging $442,342.  Average pending sale is $473,360; average list price of 100 available homes is $527,140.  The most sales were in Arlington Oaks, The Hawthorn condominiums, The Jefferson Retirement condos, and Tower Villas.

22204 Zip Code: 53 sales in July 2007 averaging $426,247.  Average pending sale is $441,989; average list price of 235 available homes is $473,366.  The most sales were in Arlington Village, Barcroft, Penrose, and The Carlton condominiums.

22205 Zip Code: 17 sales in July 2007 averaging $732,994.  Average pending sale is $838,150; average list price of 65 available homes is $947,801.  Most popular sales area was Dominion Hills.

22206 Zip Code:  32 sales in July 2007 averaging $391,114.  Average pending sale is $380,836; average list price of 69 available homes is $420,165.  Over half the sales in July were in Fairlington, with The Arlington condominiums, and Windgate of Arlington other popular areas.

22207 Zip Code: 52 sales in July 2007 averaging $864,308.  Average pending sale is $1,010,599; average list price of 120 available homes is $1,281,704.  Most popular sales areas were Berkshire Oakwood, Country Club Hills, Lee Heights, and Warwick Hills.

22209 Zip Code: 16 sales in July 2007 averaging $436,203.  Average pending sale is $712,467; average list price of 91 properties is $629,191.  River Place co-op accounted for 1/2 the sales in July, and the Atrium Condominiums were also popular.

22213 Zip Code: 4 sales in July 2007 averaging $1,147,250.  Average pending sale is $611,225; average list price of 21 homes is $849,567.  Berkshire Oakwood is the most popular sales area.

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Lenn Harley
Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate - Leesburg, VA
Real Estate Broker - Virginia & Maryland

This is an excellent market report.  Good information and visuals.  Those list prices are still up there. 

 

Aug 16, 2007 08:51 AM
Gary White~Grand Rapids Home Selling Pro Call: 616-821-9375
Flexit Realty "Flexible Home Selling Solutions" - Grand Rapids, MI
Real Estate Services You can Trust!
Brian this is a great update and public service announcement to keep homeowners current on the ever changing market.
Aug 16, 2007 11:20 AM
Patricia Kennedy
RLAH@properties - Washington, DC
Home in the Capital
Brian, I'm showing houses in Arlington tomorrow and this information will be helpful to my clients!  Good piece of work!
Aug 16, 2007 03:26 PM
Tchaka Owen
Galleria International Realty - Hollywood, FL
38 days?  Wow, that's excellent!!!  Brian, do you know if this is legit?  Let me explain......here in Hollywood the DOM is probably between 150 and 200 days (our MLX doesn't display it as readily as your MRIS).  Often listings expire and agents relist but then the prior listing is not included.  Let's say I list a home at $450k with a 4-month listing, it expires, I relist at $410k and 65 days later it's sold at $370k.  The data that will be 'advertised' is a $410k list price sold for $370k after 65 days.  The real data is that it's a $450k listing sold for $370k after 185 days.  Which is accurate in Arlington?
Aug 17, 2007 07:26 AM
Brian Block
RE/MAX Allegiance, Managing Broker/Branch Vice President - McLean, VA
Northern Virginia & D.C. Real Estate
Tchaka:  We have two different indications on the MLS -- one is DOM (days on market) and the other is DOMP (days on market property).  The DOM reflects the days on market for the current period with the current listing including any price changes.  The DOMP reflects the number of days the property has been on the market in the last 6 months even with multiple listing agents, multiple price changes, etc.  So, DOMP can give a more accurate picture.  In this case, the DOMP data was very close to the DOM data for Arlington, maybe within a day or two, so for simplicity I used the DOM information.
Aug 17, 2007 07:34 AM
Tchaka Owen
Galleria International Realty - Hollywood, FL

Yeah, that's good reporting.  Down here it's not as open which I don't like because I'm all about full disclosure.  Yes, I realize it would make the market look worse, but we need to be honest.  I can't believe 22207 is selling at an average of a million dollars.  Wow!

 

Aug 17, 2007 07:39 AM
Anonymous
Ted Williams
As someone who bought a nice brick single family home in the 22207 area code in 2001, I'm delighted our neighborhood has not only maintained its value over the last year, it has INCREASED in value, based on sales of homes on our street (including one next door) in the past two months.  Perhaps it's because one can easily walk to the Ballston Metro station from our street.  What do you think -- given the steadily worsening traffic nightmare across the Washington region, is walking distance to a Metro station becoming one of the single most valuable qualities of a house when it comes to pricing?
Aug 21, 2007 09:58 AM
#7
Anonymous
Ted Williams
As someone who bought a nice brick single family home in the 22207 area code in 2001, I'm delighted our neighborhood has not only maintained its value over the last year, it has INCREASED in value, based on sales of homes on our street (including one next door) in the past two months.  Perhaps it's because one can easily walk to the Ballston Metro station from our street.  What do you think -- given the steadily worsening traffic nightmare across the Washington region, is walking distance to a Metro station becoming one of the single most valuable qualities of a house when it comes to pricing?
Aug 21, 2007 09:58 AM
#8
Tchaka Owen
Galleria International Realty - Hollywood, FL

Well, proximity to Metro has always been one of the single most valuable qualities of any house in Arlington.  Are you by EFC?  Glad to hear values are moving up.  Arlington is one of the best places to live - in my not so humble and yes, biased opinion!!  >:-)

 

Aug 21, 2007 10:06 AM
Brian Block
RE/MAX Allegiance, Managing Broker/Branch Vice President - McLean, VA
Northern Virginia & D.C. Real Estate
Ted:  Congratulations on your purchase in Arlington -- I am sure it has been a good investment for you over the last 6 years.  I would agree that proximity to a Metro, especially the Orange Line in North Arlington is one of the most valuable criteria that buyers are looking for these days and they are willing to pay a premium to live in those neighborhoods.  Being able to walk to the Metro as well as close by shops and restaurants commands a higher value compared to comparable homes in other areas of Arlington or Northern Virginia.  Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Aug 21, 2007 10:08 AM