The Northern Virginia Real Estate Market

So here is an interesting chart which can help explain what is going on in the real estate market in Northern Virginia.  From top to bottom the lines indicate the Active Listings (in yellow) All Pending Sales (in purple) and Closed Sales (in blue).

In about April the Active Listings line and the All Pendings line started to diverge. The Closed sales also started to diverge from Active Listings shortly thereafter in June. The gap between Active and Pending is the inventory available for sale and as you can see, that gap has grown significantly through September (the last month for which data is currently available).  We know from the economic law of supply and demand that when supply increases or demand falls downward pressure is put on prices. We have been seeing that to some extent in our local markets.

The Pricing Trends chart to the right shows that pricing pressure. The median price of new listings (red line) are coming on the market substantially below the median price of existing listings (top line) while the median sale price (at the bottom) indicates what homes are selling for. As you can see the newer listings have pricing which more closely reflects the price that buyers are willing to pay.  Existing listing may need to adjust their prices to compete with them or be prepared to sit on the market for a longer time.

The days on market chart to the left shows that it is taking longer for homes to sell in the current market. Again this is a function of inventory and pricing. All of these factors interact to create the overall market in Northern Virginia.  As we see interest rates change the market changes.  As inventory grows, generally the prices decline but the season also affects sales. Winter is always a slower time of year and the spring is usually faster, often with greater selection but also more buyers competing for homes.  Our spring market seems to be starting earlier.  Early March has had more homes coming on the market.

Your hyper-local market may be different than this. Markets down to a particular subdivision or school boundary area can have completely different characteristics.  These statistics show the complete Northern Virginia situation. I can give you statistics for your specific neighborhood and would be happy to show you exactly how your neighborhood is performing.  Just give me a call today.