Northern Virginia home sales are slowing, though prices are still rising, and both are contributing to a reluctance on the part of homeowners to decide to sell.
“Housing supply is creating a domino effect, regionally and beyond,” said Ryan McLaughlin, CEO of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors (NVAR). “Lack of inventory is driving sellers to be cautious about selling since they need to make sure they have a place to move before they put their house on the market, which is exacerbating housing availability and fueling the frenzy.”
In February, there were fewer than 900 homes for sale in NVAR’s Northern Virginia region, compared to almost 1,600 in February 2021.
NVAR covers Fairfax and Arlington counties; the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church, and the towns of Vienna, Herndon and Clifton.
NVAR said the number of listings last month stood at a 12-day supply — a measure of how quickly active listings would sell at the current pace. Nationally, it was 1.7 months.
The median home price in the NVAR footprint last month was $607,000, up 6.6% from last year.
There are similar market trends in Loudoun County.
The Dulles Area Association of Realtors reported an 18.6% drop in sales last month, and said sales have slowed on a year-over-year basis for seven of the last eight months. The sharpest year-over-year drops in sales in Loudoun County were in Leesburg and in Fairfax County in Chantilly.
The median price of what did sell in Loudoun County was $628,306, up 7.4% from a year earlier. There were just 167 active listings in Loudoun County at the end of February.
“As the historically low inventory is driving up prices dramatically, rising mortgage rates could also create challenges for buyers who want to purchase a home,” said Rich Blessing, president of the Dulles Area Association of Realtors.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This post has been updated to reflect the correct locations of the sharpest year-over-year drops in sales in Loudoun and Fairfax counties.)