Download the Northern Virginia Home Sales Report for 2015 February Home Sales
February 2015 Press Release:
Winter of Discontent Segues to Strong Spring Housing Season; Inventory, Foot Traffic on the Uptick; Homes Sales Remain Stable
Fairfax – This may have been the winter of discontent, but the region’s 2015 housing market has survived it just fine. Low interest rates and strong employment growth point to a sound local market.
“Considering our record-breaking cold and snowy conditions, the fact that 1,075 homes successfully closed in February is a victory,” said Mary Bayat, the 2015 NVAR chair of the board and owner of Bayat Realty in Alexandria.
“With average sales prices up 4 percent and median prices up 6 percent compared with 2014, our 2015 market is off to a strong start,” she said. The increased inventory and relatively stable prices, as well as low interest rates compared to those just last year, create a good opportunity to buy or sell properties in Northern Virginia, she explained.
“Another local indicator is that active listings have risen more than 25 percent,” Bayat said. “That is a sure sign of seller confidence.”
“With average sales prices up 4 percent and median prices up 6 percent compared with 2014, our 2015 market is off to a strong start.”
NVAR Chairman-Elect Virgil Frizzell noted that last month’s market activity “indicates a relatively well-balanced real estate market.” Frizzell, a Realtor® with Long & Foster Real Estate in Reston, said, “On average, sellers are asking about 5 percent more than last year, and buyers have more inventory to peruse because the number of active listings in Northern Virginia increased to about 3,300 listings. ”
Prospective purchasers did not hesitate to brave frigid and icy winter conditions to attend open houses last month, noted Brian Block, NVAR Board member and RE/MAX Allegiance of McLean managing broker. “Our open houses saw lots of traffic even on very cold days,” he said.
“Sales were well below what we see in May, June and July, but on par with what we experienced in February 2014,” he said. “We're all ready for the ice and snow to thaw out and for the spring real estate market to start in earnest in Northern Virginia,” said Block.
Market optimists come not just from the Realtor® community but from analysts as well. “The Northern Virginia real estate market seems poised for strong growth this year,” said David Versel, senior research associate at the George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis. “The combination of a larger inventory, with sale price appreciation and an increased number of pending sales, points to an active and healthy market in the first half of 2015.”
With the rental market rising, and the 2015 mortgage credit standards loosening, first-time buyers may conclude that buying a home is a smart choice. Favorable inventory levels and interest rates add to that equation.
February 2015 Home Sales Compared to February 2014: NVAR Footprint
The Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® reports on February 2015 home sales activity for Fairfax and Arlington counties, the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church and the towns of Vienna, Herndon and Clifton.
A total of 1,075 homes sold in February 2015, a less than 1 percent decrease below February 2014 home sales of 1,079.
“The combination of a larger inventory, with sale price appreciation and an increased number of pending sales, points to an active and healthy market in the first half of 2015.”
Active listings continued to show a significant increase this month compared with 2014. Listings were up 25.37 percent over last year, with 3,326 active listings in February, compared with 2,653 homes available in February 2014. The average days on market (DOM) for homes in February 2015 was 76 days, an increase of 31 percent compared to the 58 DOM for homes in February 2014.
The average home sale price rose this February, to $535,520. This is up 4.27 percent compared to February 2014, when the average price was $513,611.
The median sold price of homes this February, which was $460,000, rose by 5.75 percent compared to the median price of $435,000 in February 2014.
The 1,584 new pending home sales in Northern Virginia in February is an increase of 7.17 percent compared with 1,478 contracts that were pending in February of last year.
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The Northern Virginia Association of REALTORS® serves as The Voice For Real Estate in Northern Virginia and provides a variety of services to its members including educational opportunities, professional standards enforcement, market statistics, legislative reviews, issues lobbying, multiple listing and lockbox services, and more. The purpose of NVAR is to enhance the ability and opportunity of its members to conduct their business successfully, to promote member professional competency, to maintain members’ adherence to the REALTOR® Code of Ethics and to promote the preservation of the right to own, transfer and use real property. NVAR has grown to about 11,000 REALTORS® who carry out a real estate industry in a community of more than 2 million residents. Visit NVAR online at www.nvar.com, www.realtorschool.com, and www.realtorshop.com. Visit our new online school at www.razorpath.org. Contact the Northern Virginia Association of REALTORS® at 703.207.3200. The NVAR headquarters is located at: 8407 Pennell Street, Fairfax, VA 22031, with a second service center located in Herndon.
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