March Sales Date in Northern Virginia

From Northern Virginia Association of Realtors:

March Sales Data

Look How Far We Have Come in One Year: 2010 is On Solid Ground So Far: We Are Headed Out of the Danger Zone, the Statistics Show

News outlets have been reporting that our economy is expanding, inventories have been restocked, and a growth pattern is quantifiable.

So how is the local housing market doing now that the first quarter of 2010 is complete? The snapshot results in mostly good news:

March 2010 realized a net increase in homes sold of about 5 percent. We can conclude that the tax credit, housing affordability and the continued low interest rates fueled this gain.
Interestingly, First Quarter home sales in 2010 are on par
with last year's number, with only a .12 percent increase (12/100 of 1 percent). Statistically speaking that is a push.

The big dip came in days on the market, which dropped 42 percent. Such a negative number in March this year means an average house sold in 52 days, rather than the 89 days it took to sell last year. Months supply dropped too. We now have a five-month supply compared to last March’s six-month supply: statistical evidence that houses are selling.

Average March sales prices rose 10 percent compared to last year, with a nearly 12 percent year-to-date average sales boost.

Casting a wider net across the Greater Northern Virginia market, the average sale price in March rose 18 percent. For the first quarter, sales prices rose almost 19 percent. The overall year-to-date homes sold dropped almost 12 percent, which means sales activity has been slower in the western and southern surrounding counties.
Days on market numbers declined about 43 percent, in a similar trend as Northern Virginia. Adding in days on the market for Greater NoVA, homes sold in 55 days in March, rather than the 95 days it took one year ago.

CNN Money.Com Reports That People Have Growing Confidence

Consumer behavior shows recession is over
By Chris Isidore CNN Money.Com April 7, 2010

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Economists have been saying for a while that the Great Recession has ended. Now, there are signs that the general public is finally starting to agree.

Though still pitifully low, consumer confidence is improving.

But some of the positive economic news of recent weeks, like the best job gains in three years, the continued stock market
rally and early signs of a turnaround in home values, is starting to make people more hopeful.
It's a growing optimism that can best be seen in consumers'
actions, not their answers to various polls.

"If you look at what they're saying, they're still very nervous," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "But if you look at what they're doing, they're more convinced that things have turned the corner."

Voting with their wallets Consumer spending is improving at a faster pace than many had expected at this stage in the recovery.

March 2010 Regional Home Sales

Northern Virginia: March 2010

The Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® reports on March 2010 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 1,448 homes sold in March 2010, an increase of almost 5 percent above March 2009 home sales of 1,384.

Active listings decreased by about 10 percent from last year, with 7,232 active listings in March, compared with 8,069 homes available in March 2009. The average days on market (DOM) for homes in March 2010 decreased by around 42
percent to 52 days, compared with 89 days in March 2009.

Sales prices rose compared with those realized last year. The average sales price in March increased by 10 percent from March 2009, to $435,359, compared with last March’s
average of $395,512.

The median price of homes sold in Northern Virginia in March was $372,500, which is an increase of 11 percent compared with March 2009’s median price of $335,000.
The number of pending home sales in Northern Virginia in March was up 12 percent at 2,594 compared to 2,306 contracts pending in March 2009.

Greater Northern Virginia: March 2010

Sales activity in Greater Northern Virginia (NVAR jurisdictions plus Prince William, Loudoun and the Greater Piedmont counties) for March 2010 also shows a slight decrease from March 2009, although average sales prices continue to remain higher.

The number of Greater Northern Virginia region homes sold
in March was 2,656, just under a 4 percent decrease from March 2009’s total of 2,755 sales. Pending home sales remained constant with 4,584 in March 2009 compared with 4,561 in March 2010, a difference of less than one percent.
The average sales price of $373,592 in March 2010 increased by about 18 percent over March 2009’s average sales price of $317,158.

Across Greater Northern Virginia, the number of listings continues to decrease, with 13,831 listings active, which is around 11 percent less than this time last year, when 15,508 homes were available. The average DOM for a home sold in March 2010 was 55 compared with last year’s 95 DOM, a decrease of around 42 percent.