To download The Northern Virginia Home Sales Report for March 2017
Local Housing Market Uptick in March May Reflect Sense of Urgency by Buyers, Reports the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors®
Fairfax – The Northern Virginia March housing New-Under-Contract numbers are nearly 18 percent higher than one year ago, new contracts with a contingency are up 1 percent and new pending contracts are up 6 percent, reports the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors®.
“Serious buyers who have been on the fence clearly decided to proceed with a home purchase this past March before interest rates tick up once again,” said NVAR CEO Ryan Conrad. “It is a good sign about the broad economy when confidence levels are rising not just at the Federal Reserve, but with local consumers, too.”
Craig Lilly, with Long & Foster Real Estate in Vienna, noted that real estate activity in March was sharply up from the previous few months. “I’ve had several multiple contract situations, but not a frenzy,” said Lilly. “My clients are aware of the politics, and skew both ways, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting their decision to buy or sell,” Lilly said. Properties that are priced accurately are among those that prospective buyers consider the most, he explained.
According to NVAR Chairman of the Board Bob Adamson, “While rising interest rates are not holding back serious Northern Virginia buyers, the Achilles heel of our market is still our lean inventory with only a two months’ supply. Multi-family construction has reached its peak. Entry level buyers have very little to choose from in the price range below $ 400,000.”
The Northern Virginia labor market continues to remain strong with average household income levels not only the strongest in the state but doubling that of the national average, Adamson explained. “This is one of the reasons that our local economy supports such a vibrant residential market,” he said.
March 2017 Regional Home Sales Compared to March 2016: Northern Virginia
The Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® reports on March 2017 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 1,779 homes sold in March 2017, a 15.37 percent increase above March 2016 home sales of 1,542.
Active listings decreased in March compared with 2016. Listings were down about 14 percent below last year’s, with 3,667 active listings, compared with 4,285 homes available in March 2016. The average days on market (DOM) for homes in March 2017 was 52 days, a decrease of 21 percent compared to the 66 DOM for homes in March 2016.
The average home sale price rose to $565,964 compared to last March. This is up 5.27 percent compared to March 2016, when the average price was $537,628.
The median sold price of homes this March, which was $498,000, rose by 7 percent compared to the median price of $465,500 in March 2016.
The 2,606 new pending home sales in Northern Virginia in March marks an increase of about 6 percent compared with 2,458 new contracts that were pending in March last year. Total pending sales in March were down fractionally, to 3,069, compared with 3,082 pending contracts in March 2016.