Regional Home Sales Take a Dive in April.

The April real estate market across the inner suburbs of Northern Virginia took a steep dive compared to last April. According to Scott McCaffrey of the Sun Gazette, while median sales prices in the overall region were up slightly, total sales were down 24.5%, and transactions in Arlington county itself were down 28%. In the 22204 ZIP code, there were 34 transactions, compared to 67 last year. This does not look good for the state of local real estate.

But why such a marked difference? Last year, homeowners were able to take advantage of a federal tax credit for first time home buyers. "First time" was defined simply as not having owned a home for three years prior, which gave broad allowances to people whose living situations may have changed. The tax credit was to amount to up to 10% of the cost of the home, capping at $8,000, and provided buyers remain in the home for three years they are not required to pay back the credit.

This variable makes market analysis difficult. It may be unwise to compare this April's market to April of last year. Perhaps it would be better to compare it to before the tax credit was put into place to determine whether the market is truly suffering.


Bethany Fuller
The Mike Webb Team, LLC