Real Estate Blog

Brisk Year-End Sales Climate Sets the Stage for 2022 Northern Virginia Forecast

  Fairfax, Va. – “Buyers in Northern Virginia added homes to their holiday shopping lists, pushing the number of sales to an 11% increase above last November and outpacing the slight dip seen in October by 4%,” said Ryan McLaughlin, CEO of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® (NVAR). “Sales also outpaced the pre-pandemic 2019 November market by almost 49%,” McLaughlin said.    “Reflecting a paradox that has existed in the market for at least a year, in November the number of homes sold increased, while the number of homes on the market continued to drop,” said Derrick Swaak, 2021 NVAR president   There were 2,125 homes sold in the NVAR region in…

Northern Virginia Housing Market Outpaces Pre-Pandemic Activity

  Fairfax, Va. – “The Northern Virginia housing market continued to outpace fiveyear averages in October, with sales and listings higher than October activity in 2019,” said Ryan McLaughlin, CEO of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® (NVAR). “Comparisons to 2020 pandemic market conditions don’t really provide an accurate picture of current market strength, given the extenuating factors impacting buyer and seller sentiment during that time,” McLaughlin said   There were 2,038 homes sold in the NVAR region in October. While that number trails the pandemic rebound sales activity that continued into October of last year by around 8%, it is almost 19% higher than October…

Northern Virginia Housing Market Continues Balancing Act in September; Competition Eases for Home Buyers

Fairfax, Va. – “Across northern Virginia, sales are still brisk and inventory is still low. But what we experienced for September was more of a reversion to the mean, resembling a more typical fall market like we had in 2019 or 2018, rather than the outlier of 2020,” said Derrick Swaak, president of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors®(NVAR) and a partner and managing broker with TTR Sotheby’s International Realty in McLean, Va.    The result is that home buyers in the NVAR region faced less competition in September, compared to earlier in the year.    “Comparing September activity to the previous year, the number of houses…

Fairfax, Va. – With numbers still outpacing five-year averages, August residential housing data showed signs of a more balanced market, providing a break for Northern Virginia buyers.    “Homes continue to sell at a brisk pace in Northern Virginia, with an increase in the number of available homes for sale in our region in August,” said Ryan McLaughlin, CEO of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® (NVAR).    There were 2,337 homes sold in the NVAR region, representing a 1.7% increase above the number of homes sold in August of last year according to Bright MLS, the region’s multiple listing service. The number of total listings in the NVAR region was about 26% higher than last August, with 2,678 homes available for sale.   There…

Northern Virginia Home Buyers and Sellers Seek Relief from July Heat; Dip in New Listings, Closed Sales May Signal Slight Cooling Trend   Fairfax, Va. – As Northern Virginia temperatures, home sales and prices continued to climb in July, there were fewer buyers touring properties and fewer sellers listing homes than this time last year   “Despite some signs of moderation, Realtors® in Northern Virginia helped clients sell more than 2,500 homes in July, an increase of almost 7% above last July and 13.6% higher than the number of homes sold in July of 2019,” said Ryan McLaughlin, CEO of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® (NVAR). “This represents a sales volume of $1.8 billion, which surpasses the July 2020 sales volume of $1.6…

A Robust Housing Market For Years To Come David H. Stevens, CMB - Advisor to the GMM Board of Directors     Two questions continue to be asked of me. The first is, should I worry about rising prices and wait for the market to slow? The second is, is there a risk of a housing bubble like the Great Recession of 2008? The answer to both questions is, no! Housing prices are not on a verge of weakening and the housing economy of today does not compare in, any way, to the 2008 recession.   Let's start with the basics. Home price appreciation is strong across the country. And yes, it is too strong. As Core Logic reported recently, home prices for May of this year were 15.4% higher than May of last year. In fact, there is no state in the nation…

 

May Home Sales Rival Cicadas as Buyers Swarm the Northern Virginia Market

Fairfax, Va. – “Housing market activity in the Northern Virginia region was really humming in May and shows no signs of letting up,” says Ryan McLaughlin, CEO of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® (NVAR). “Our Realtor® members closed sales for their clients totaling $1.9 billion, which was an increase of 84% above last May. It represents a 30% increase above May 2019 sales volume, so this significant jump in sales activity is not solely a post-COVID phenomenon,” McLaughlin says   The number of new pending sales in May, representing transactions likely to close in June, was 48% higher than last year, at 2,931 compared with 1,983 pending contracts in May…

PRICES ROSE EVERYWHERE   99% of metro areas saw home prices increase in the first quarter of the year, according to the National Association of Realtors. Though some cities saw year-over-year jumps as high as 35%, even smaller places saw at least modest rises. Experts credit record-low supply and strong demand for the broad increases.   APPRAISED VALUE VS SALES PRICE   Home prices are surging as high as they've ever been, which can mean a significant gap between the sale price and the appraised value. Rushed appraisers can't always keep up with new data that conflicts with even recent history. One option is a Reconsideration of Value request, which lets an unsatisfied buyer submit newer comparables for the appraiser to…

March Brought New Listings, ‘Sight Unseen’ Offers, Brisk Sales Activity to Northern Virginia Housing Market   Fairfax, Va. – “More housing inventory came on the market in March, yet those listings were snapped up quickly; there are simply more buyers than available homes for sale,” says Derrick Swaak, partner and managing broker with TTR Sotheby’s International Realty in McLean, Va. and 2021 president of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® (NVAR).    “As a result, total dollar sales volume in March was up 25% versus the same month last year. The average March sales price increased 7% across Northern Virginia compared to last year as prospective buyers often found themselves in multiple offer competitions, pushing the limits of…

NEW SHIFTS IN THE PRINCE WILLIAM COUTY MARKET   WOODBRIDGE, VA. March 19, 2021—REALTOR® Association of Prince William (PWAR) has gathered Prince William County’s most recent market statistics, generated by Virginia REALTORS® Chief Economist, Lisa Sturtevant, and SmartCharts, an affiliate website of Showing Time. The market statistics are gathered through data provided by VAR and Bright MLS, which serves as the multiple listing service for Prince William County. A total of 561 homes were sold in February 2021, a closer margin increase of 8.5 percent compared to February 2020 at 517. The number of pending sales saw a decrease of 7.8 percent year-over-year, from 709 to 654. New listings also showed a decrease year-over-year, with 726 new…