The Housing Market Is Edging Up

Happy Father’s day to all dads out there!

We have experienced an active Spring real estate market in Northern VA.  Summer is looking good as we progress into the warmer weather.

While the Fed decided not to raise interest rates earlier this week, our local MLS data shows that our local market is edging up from last year.

In May, home closings were up 8 percent, at 2,312 settlements, compared to last year, as the spring market in Northern Virginia showed growth. May showed more sales than the past three years in the same month. Affordable housing stock is still lean, will inventory low at all price points. Active listings are down 10 percent at 5,122 compared to last year. New contracts were up almost 6 percent with 746 new deals.

Pending sales are up 4 percent and it appears that the activity will remain sustainable, according to NVAR Chairman of the Board, Virgil Frizzell. He continued to explain that there is still a consistent demand from clients needing lower priced housing and this will remain a challenge, especially in the spring busy season. The continued low mortgage rates has also helped sales.

In May, 48 percent of all homes sold in the region had contracts within 10 days, according to NVAR CEO Ryan Conrad. "So much of what makes a house sell quickly is its location, its condition, and the right asking price. Decisive buyers are out there, and they know that hesitating could mean losing both the right house and a low-rate mortgage."

A total of 2,312 homes sold in May 2016, which is an increase of around 8 percent above May 2015's sales of 2,142.

Active listings decreased this month compared with last year. Listings are down by around 10 percent from last year (5,122 active listings in May compared with 5,672 in May 2015). The average days on market for homes in May 2016 was 38 days. This was an increase of 2.70 percent compared to the 37 days on market for homes in May 2015.

Average home sale prices fell slightly to $562,684. This is down 1.92 percent from May 2015, when the average price was $573,682.

The median price of sold homes this May was $505,000, which rose just about .30 percent compared to the median price of $503, 500 in May 2015. There were 2,566 new pending homes sales in Northern Virginia in May, which was an increase of less than 1 percent compared with 2,550 pending contracts in May 2015. Total pending sales for May were up to 3,633, which is 3.59 percent, compared with 3,507 pending contracts in May 2015.

Our market is strong but certainly competitive. Having a strategy in place with a Realtor that knows the local market and has experience with these conditions could make a huge difference for you. Please give us a call at (703) 824-4800 or visit www.caseyoneal.com.