Didn’t that feel like the fastest January ever? I blinked, and it is already February. It seems like we were just celebrating New Year’s Day yesterday. It must be the pace of the real estate market that makes time fly. This January’s housing market has been the hottest on record. Last month 45% of homes found a new homeowner within two weeks and 35% received a contract within one week. As demand remains strong, the question is – will we have enough inventory to keep up with this demand? Time will tell. If you have thoughts of selling or know someone who wants to sell, now is the time to act. Currently, we only have half a month’s supply of housing available. This means that if no new homes came on the market, everything would be sold in two weeks!

The National Association of Realtors says that a 6-month supply of homes is a balanced market. Do you know when the last time we had a 6-month supply of houses was in Northern Virginia? I have been keeping weekly records since March of 2005, and the most supply we have had per month is 4.3 – and that was in January of 2009. At that time, we had 10,129 houses for sale in Northern Virginia. Today we have only 1,069 resales available. Because inventory is so low, we see multiple contracts on virtually every listed home and have showings back-to-back all day long. I had more than 50 showings on the last home I sold. That means 49 buyers are still looking for a home in Haymarket in the $725,000 price range. If half of the buyers get buyer’s fatigue, there are still 25 people looking for a home.

Things didn’t even happen like this last year when the market was so frenetic. This market will take time to settle down. Since 1981, the average age range of a first-time buyer has been between 28 and 32; there are 23.5 Millennials in this age group today.

Even though the competition is stiff, we can still help if you are considering buying. We have developed strategies to help you “win” in multiple contract situations – just give me a call to learn more!

Happy Valentine’s Day!