Northern Virginia December 2009 Statistics

From the December 2009 NVAR Statistics, it is clear that for those selling homes this past December in Northern Virginia, the average sale price was up a smidge more than 12 percent over December 2008 numbers. And for our Greater Northern Virginia region, which extends west and north of Fairfax County, average home prices spiked more than 18 percent compared to the previous year.

Not bad in a year dubbed as the Great Recession. Still, we know it was not an easy year for many. In other parts of the country, quality of life approached that of the Great Depression. But not here in Northern Virginia, thankfully.

Preliminary data, which will be confirmed later in the first quarter of 2010, show that year-to-date average sales prices were down 5.5 percent in Fairfax, Arlington, Falls Church and Alexandria. And our Greater Northern Virginia region fared a tad better with a 5.3 percent average sales price decline. By many measures, this reflects a stable housing market, which will only inch upward as the tax credit continues to benefit first-time home buyers and home owners thinking about and deciding to buy another primary residence home.

Turns out that December data posted some declines that everyone is likely happy about: Days on the Market. In both Northern Virginia and Greater Northern Virginia, average time on the market was under two months, when last year houses took about 100 days, on average, to sell. Our region’s absorption rate dropped to about four months’ supply from 2008’s five month supply. This reduction could be a direct result of the tax credit first set in place this past February in President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009.

So what’s up for 2010? Based on the number of home sales, housing is doing reasonably well with brisk, encouraging pending sales activity in the pipeline in what is typically one of real estate’s slowest months. While the pending numbers are lower compared to December 2008, we anticipate that because of the extended tax incentives, sales activity numbers will remain brisk in early 2010.



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