No. Va. Shows Continuing Signs of Stabilization

In the last few months, I have mentioned positive trends in the real estate market within Northern Virginia, and I am pleased to say that the statistics continue to back up my statements. The region is showing signs of stabilization. July's statistics (published by MRIS) show that Northern Virginia (defined as Fairfax & Arlington Counties including the cities of Fairfax, Falls Church and Alexandria) indicate the following: * While prices are down about 13% compared to last year, sales prices took their biggest hit in January of 2008, and since then seem relatively stable with only minimal changes in average sales prices each month throughout 2008. * There is currently a 4.86 month supply of inventory (down slightly from last month). The National Association of REALTORS says that a 6 month inventory is generally indicative of a "balanced" market. This is down from 6.19 months of inventory in July of last year. * The number of units sold is relatively the same as this time last year, with a less than 1% difference. * We can tell first time home buyers are entering the market, as FHA and VA loans financed about 24% of the closed sales in July. * Investors have re-entered the market, demonstrated by the increase in cash transactions, loan assumptions and other creative financing options - these transactions made up about 11% of the transactions last month. Please remember that this shows statistics for the No. Virginia area as a whole. Within this area, there are many submarkets. Your agent can assist you with further determining the situation in the submarkets that will most affect you. Look for more summary reports on Fairfax & Loudoun Counties in the next few days. OTHER TOOLS AND REPORTS: A great tool for sellers to understand the market that is geographically closest to them is the Market Snapshot - order your automated report from the home page of my web site (http://www.vickychrisner.com/) . You will need to put in a real email address and real physical address, as the tool uses your physical address to determine the area for the report, and then emails the report to you. The MRIS reports are posted by region, county and zip code each month. These reports are available to the public at http://www.mris.com/