The real estate market in the region is off to a hot start this year.
“The Alexandria real estate market is off to an incredible start," according to Phyllis and Britt Patterson of The Patterson Group at TTR | Sotheby's International Realty. "The mild weather and low interest rates have allowed for a much earlier start to the spring market than compared to last year. There is also incredibly low inventory right now, we are seeing homes priced at $1,200,000 and below are selling quickly, often in a matter of days with multiple offers, and we are expecting this trend to carry on throughout the spring.”
Homes priced above $1.2 million are also seeing more action than last year at this time, but they sometimes take a little bit longer to sell at that price point.
The market is brisk across other areas of Northern Virginia, as well.
“With mortgage interest rates at a 10-month low, and our regional home sales at a 10-plus-year high, Northern Virginia Realtors® anticipate an active spring market,” said Ryan Conrad, CEO of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors®.
Home sales in the NVAR region are up when comparing January 2019 to January 2018. The NVAR area includes the Cities of Alexandria and Fairfax, Arlington County, and Fairfax County and its cities and towns (such as Herndon, Vienna and Clifton).
NVAR reported:
- 1,127 homes sold in January 2019, a 2.83 percent increase over last January.
- Active listings decreased compared to January 2018, with listings down about 20 percent.
- The average number of days on the market (DOM) for homes in January 2019 was 63 days, a decrease of more than 21 percent compared to January 2018.
“The Amazon HQ2 announcement, plus favorable interest rates and a relatively mild winter, have all contributed to bringing the buyers out early this year,” said NVAR President Christine Richardson. “Open house traffic has been brisk in January and early February, and many properties have been sold with multiple offers,” she said.
Also this week, Alexandria announced it has issued the assessments for all real estate, and the assessments show a “stable to moderate increase in value across nearly all residential and commercial property types,” according to City information.
Overall, the value of Alexandria’s taxable properties increased by 2.71 percent, though individual properties may have increased, decreased or remained the same. That overall increase represents a tax base increase of about $1.3 billion, about $344 million of which is from new developments or improvements to existing properties.
Here are more details from the City of Alexandria:
- The residential tax base increased by 2.04 percent overall.
- The average assessment for all residential property types, including single family homes, townhomes, and condominiums, increased 1.91 percent, to $555,002.
- The average single-family home value increased 1.36 percent, to $764,596.
- The average condominium value increased by 3.3 percent, to $329,216.
