How Much Did Home Prices Cool Last Year?

  In 2021, home prices set a record. According to the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, they were 19 percent higher than they were the year before. That was the largest annual home price gain in the 35-history of S&P's index. Last year, though, prices slowed, and with S&P's latest release we know just how much. The index found that, after peaking in June, home prices ended the year up 5.8 percent from the previous year.   Craig J. Lazzara, managing director at S&P, says prices started cooling halfway through 2022. “The cooling in home prices that began in June 2022 continued through year end, as December marked the sixth consecutive month of declines for our National Composite Index,” Lazzara…

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NVAR Reports that Northern Virginia January Home Sales Down but Pending Home Sales Rose 14%
Good Signs that Sales Heading Up for Spring

  FAIRFAX, Va. (February 15, 2023) – Northern Virginia home sales declined in January, dropping 33.6% compared to January 2022, but in a good sign, pending sales grew 14% from the month prior, reversing an eight-month skid, according to the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® (NVAR).     “Pending home sales indicate an increase in market activity,” explained NVAR Board Member Peter Bixby, Compass Realty. “This growth is a positive sign. The buyers and sellers I work with are motivated and adjusting to higher mortgage rates.”   Despite lower sales activity, the average days on the market in…

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Housing News   More Home Sellers Offer Buyers Concessions   When the housing market was at its peak, home sellers had the advantage. It was common for a homeowner with an attractive listing to receive multiple offers from interested buyers. Put simply, it was a sellers' market. These days, things have obviously changed. Higher mortgage rates and more challenging affordability conditions mean home sellers have to work a little harder to entice potential buyers. It is leading more of them to offer buyers concessions.   But what are concessions? Well, they can be a lot of things, including mortgage rate buy-downs and covering closing costs or the cost of home repairs. They are becoming more common as the market begins to find better…

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2023 NVAR Region 2023 Residential Market Forecast

  The Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® (NVAR), in conjunction with the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University (GMU-CRA), issues a consensus forecast for the NVAR region’s housing market. The association convenes a panel of key experts from differing sectors of the real estate industry to review preliminary forecasts developed by GMU-CRA economists and offer their insights into current and near-future market conditions. The following represents the forecast team’s outlook for 2023   This forecast arrives at a time of market upheaval caused by a rapid acceleration of mortgage rates since the spring of 2022 as the Federal Reserve Bank aggressively increases interest…

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NVAR Reports Sluggish Home Sales and Limited Selection in October Higher Mortgage Rates and Low Inventory Both Factors   FAIRFAX, Va. (November 16, 2022) – Driven by higher mortgage rates, October housing sales continued to fall, dropping 37.4% compared to October 2021. Meanwhile, limited inventory pushed prices up 4% from the previous year, according to the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® (NVAR).    “Interesting dynamics are shaping our local market as sales continue dropping but prices keep rising. Even though it remains a seller’s market, the slowing market is also bringing a little more parity to the marketplace as buyers have more bargaining power than over the past two years,” said NVAR Board Member Miguel Calvo,…

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Home Value Growth Easing to Pre-Pandemic Levels

  Home values nationwide are returning to 'normal' after two years of unprecedented growth, based on a new report from Zillow. Specifically, the increase in value for the typical U.S. home has been decelerating by the month, from a peak of 1.9% in April to 1.2% in May and .8% in June   These monthly adjustments may benefit homebuyers whose purchasing power is finally on the rise. That's after double-digit annual increases bumped the value of the typical home up 16% year over year – and a staggering 44.5% since 2019  

Experts Offer Mortgage Rate Forecasts

  Mortgage interest rates have risen dramatically over the past several months with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage…

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July Homes Sales Dropped Nearly 29% in Northern Virginia from Last Year as Inventory Inched Up, Reports NVAR   FAIRFAX, Va. (August 12, 2022) – Northern Virginia housing sales continued their descent, sliding 28.8% in July from the year prior. Price growth slowed and inventory was slightly more plentiful, according to the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® (NVAR)   "More options are available to homebuyers now that the market is calming. It remains a seller’s market, but the feeding frenzy has subsided somewhat. Sellers need to put their best foot forward when entering the market because buyers simply do not have the appetite or the energy to deal with unrealistic sellers. Well-maintained, updated properties that are priced…

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Wondering when the current mortgage rate rollercoaster will end? The main explanation for the recent rise in rates is simple: The Federal Reserve is on a mission to combat inflation. That means the Fed plans to raise short-term interest rates in 2022, and mortgage rates generally follow the same path. On the other side of the coin, competing forces are pushing rates lower. For example, investors are taking money out of the stock market and putting it into safer investments like mortgage bonds. This growing demand leads to lower rates. Ultimately, the good news is that rates have a good chance of becoming attractively low in the long-term if a recession doesn't begin to affect the economy.

 

How Crypto and Blockchain Are Influencing Real…

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WOODBRIDGE, VA. June 14, 2022 – Flowers are in bloom this season and so are the recent Prince William County market statistics. The stats, generated by Virginia REALTORS Chief Economist Ryan Price and SmartCharts and gathered through data provided by VAR and Bright MLS, give readers a valuable snapshot of what’s hot on the charts, and what’s not in the current housing market.   A grand total of 864 homes were sold across the month of May, this is a minimal decrease of 13.3 percent in comparison to May 2021. New listings also showed a slight 11.1% decrease with 1079 new listings as opposed to 1214 in May 2021. On a lighter note, active listings were shown to be more readily available with 489 listings, a significant 30.8% increase to last year’s…

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Regional Housing Sales Cool but Still Hot Compared to Pre-Covid, Reports NVAR April Housing Sales Down but Prices Up from Last Year

  FAIRFAX, Va. (May 13, 2022) – Housing sales slowed compared to April of last year but grew compared to March, according to the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® (NVAR). Even with easing sales, it remains a seller’s market and home prices continued to surge.   “Rising mortgage rates and limited supply have finally cooled the market but when considered in context of our pre-covid world, we are still experiencing outstanding growth in housing sales,” said Derrick Swaak, NVAR Board Member and Partner/Managing Broker, TTR Sotheby's International Realty. “Long-term this slowing may help more…

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