Loudoun Real Estate Blog

It has been a busy summer in the real estate market in Loudoun County, Virginia. According to NVAR, in July, 2009 pending and sold transactions for single family detached homes has remained relatively stable while the inventory available is at the lowest point it has been all year, 1369 homes. Obviously, fewer homes on the market should been better prices for sellers. According the NVAR, the average days on market has decreased since February 2009. In July, 2009 the average days on market for single-family detached homes in Loudoun County was 73 days down from over 125 days in February. Could it be the market in Loudoun County is recovering? I would recommend that buyers take advantage quickly of the lower prices and low interest rates.

The stricter lending standards, falling home vallues and tough economy is affecting everyone. However, the National Association of Realtors reported that for the 3rd quarter of this year, sales and median home prices fell across the United States expect in four states. Those four states were Nevada, California, Arizona and Virginia.  In Loudoun County, sales seem to have slowed lately though. During the entire month of October, 414 homes went under contract in Loudoun County. In November, there were only 382 homes to go under contract. It will be interesting to see how this compares to the rest of the country.  

At a recent workshop, Roger Arnold, a macro economist who does consulting for government agencies, stated that the Washington D.C. Metro Area is the most promising real estate market in the world. He gave three main points:

1. Washington has become the center of the world politically and now financially with the implosion of Wall Street, the size of the bailout and global recession.

2. The country is going through a deflationary period in the private sectors that will be offset by an increase in government.

3. The Washington DC area has a shortage of residential housing, office space and adequate transportation.

The future of the Washington D.C. area housing market may be brighter than other parts of the country.

There were actually some positive signs in the real estate market at the national level lately. New mortgage applications jumped up in the beginning of March for the first time in more than a month according to the Mortgage Bankers Assocation. Also, the pending home sale index didn’t decline in February as many predicted. It stayed flat. Finally, the Federal Reserve is keeping short term interest rates low. Could this mean real estate conditions are improving? I will keep you posted.