Real Estate Blog

According to the Virginia REALTORS March 2018 Home Sales Report, performance of the March residential real estate market slowed as a tight inventory supply and higher prices pinched the market. March 2018 volume (the sum of all sales) increased 1.0 percent over the same period in 2017, from $3.255 billion in March 2017 to $3.288 billion in March 2018. Typical of industry seasonality, volume rose from the prior month by 47.9 percent (from $2.223 billion in February 2018).

Also in accordance with historical seasonality trends, the number of transactions in March increased month-over-month by 40.6 percent (from 6,941 to 9,759) as the Spring selling season has begun. However, year-over-year sales in March dropped 2.6 percent from their 2017 benchmark (10,015).

Statewide median sales price for March 2018 was $278,000 an increase of 4.9 percent relative to last March ($265,000). Illustrating the continued trend of limited supply, median price increased $13,000 from February to March (from $265,000) and the askto-sell ratio reached 99.9% in March, up from 99.2% in February and 99.3% in March 2017. In addition to an elevated median price and ask-to-sell ratio, the median number of days on the market dropped to 37 days, down 10 days from February 2018, and down from 43 days in March 2017.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage interest rate for March increased to 4.44 percent. Despite rate increases, financing remains historically affordable and, coupled with Virginia’s low 3.4% unemployment rate and high consumer confidence, continues to encourage market entry.