Market Insight: Housing Inventory Surges in Alexandria, Arlington

For the first time in months, the number of homes sold throughout the region was higher in July than the same month in 2019, according to MarketStats by ShowingTime—statistics from Bright MLS, our local multiple listing service. It’s quite a change from the early months of the year, when the shutdown from COVID-19 affected more individuals than the virus itself.

Fortunately, the local home buying and selling market is resilient. We’ve seen a bit of a recovery from months such as April, May, and June, when many sellers and buyers hit the pause button waiting for the “all clear” to get back to business. The number of July home sales is a good sign.

Arlington County, Alexandria City, and Washington, D.C., in July all showed inventory increases over July 2019—Arlington County and Alexandria City inventories surged 72 percent and 38 percent, respectively. That’s not the story for the rest of the region, however.

A positive for sellers is the fact that there’s no shortage of buyers. Just ask anyone who’s made a recent offer on a home and is typically competing with other offers.

Spurred by historically low interest rates, money is quite inexpensive right now, and the appeal to many is that it’s time to buy. According to Bankrate.com, the average 30-year, fixed rate mortgage had an annual percentage rate (APR) of 3.43 percent as of mid-August. A 15-year mortgage had an average APR as low as 2.98 percent.

Still, inventory remains drastically low.

In Fairfax County, where 4.5 percent more homes sold last month than in July 2019, inventory was 29 percent lower than July 2019. Prince William county inventory was down 60 percent over the same period, Montgomery County was down 39 percent, and Prince William County down 48 percent.

Average sold prices for July were up across the board over prices in July 2019: Arlington County (21 percent), Alexandria City (20 percent), Fairfax County (10 percent), Washington, D.C. (9 percent), Prince Georges County (8 percent), Prince William County (11 percent), and Montgomery County (nearly 5 percent).

As buyers ride the wave of low inventory, with few exceptions, homes are spending little time on market before going under contract. Out of 1,756 sold homes in Fairfax County in July, 65 percent were under contract in 10 days or less. Prince William County saw the same 10-day percentage among its 906 sales last month. In Arlington County, 64 percent of its sales were in 10 days or less, while 63 percent of Alexandria City sales happened in 10 days or less. For Montgomery County, Washington, D.C., and Prince Georges County, between 46 percent and 54 percent of homes sold in the first 10 days on the market.

These are uncharted waters. Low interest rates have been the norm for a while, and their appeal to buyers is great. As such, people are out there looking for anything they can find, putting many sellers in the driver’s seat right now. So the demand side of the equation still rules the day. Continue reading here.

Christopher Prawdzik and his wife Angela Logomasini are licensed Realtors® with Samson Properties in Alexandria and are members of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® Top Producer’s Club. Operating as D.C. Region Real Estate, they serve the Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland real estate market and offer comprehensive real estate services, including 4½% full-service listings.

© 2020 DCRegionRealEstateNews.com