NAR Statistics - Good Information to Know
Below is information that was released by the National Association of Realtors with my comments that I feel reflect the Northern Virginia Market. A loan officer that I work with sent me an email with the NAR information and I thought it was worth sharing with my two cents!
The
National Association of REALTORS has released its Existing Home Sales Data for
October.
WOW!!!
Existing Home Sales were UP 1.4% from last month -
and UP 13.5% from last year. Annual home sales pace came it at 4.97 Million
units.
The median home price is now $162,500 - down 4.7% year over year
(this is not our market) - The average sales price in Northern Virginia
is $470k and is up by 1% over last year.
The number of homes on the market did drop
again. We now have 3.33 Million homes on the market in the nation - the LOWEST
inventory level since October 2005. We still do have an 8 month supply of homes,
but as we increase sales, this low inventory will decline fast. The number of homes on the market is down 12% from last year.
Here is a
BIG item - the cancellation rate JUMPED 18% in one month to 33%!!! Yes, the
nation is seeing that a record level of contracts are getting released instead
of closing - a full 1/3 of the homes under contract ended up NOT closing. This
is something I think we were all expecting, considering how hard it did become
to get new financing approvals, the adjustments in the maximum loan amounts and
all the other headwinds we are getting in our industry. This is why it is important to have an experienced agent working for
you. In our market we have a much lower
cancellation rate but working with an agent that does research up front will help
you to avoid surprises that lead to a contract being released.
Please let me
know if you have any questions or comments.
Thanks,
Buying or Selling a Home in Northern Virginia? Contact Kim Darwaza of RE/MAX Allegiance for
all of your Real Estate needs at 703-856-2254 or kim@kimdarwaza.com. To search the MLS please visit http://www.kimdarwaza.com.