housing inventory

March 2022 Market Update

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For me, the word of the month is ‘strategize’…and that’s because the real estate market is moving fast and furiously. If you don’t have a strategy, you will not be adequately positioned as a seller or a buyer. If you are a seller, do you fix up your house or just list it in its current condition? Do you price it low and hope for multiple offers? Do you price it at market and expect a few offers – or maybe just one? Or do you price it high and hope a frustrated buyer is willing to pay any price?

If you are a buyer – do you use an escalation clause? Do you waive all contingencies? Do you offer a free Post Settlement Occupancy Agreement? Do you want to add an appraisal gap statement? Do you take it “as is”? So many questions need to be addressed; each situation is different and should be analyzed individually. The good news is that I have the answers for you, whether you are looking to sell or buy in today’s market, who you work with matters!

As you know, not every house will sell just because of the market. You still need to have the right strategy to get it sold. On the flip side, a strong offer can position you to win over multiple other contracts with the right strategy, so call me to discuss your situation in more detail. I am always here to help.

I am getting many real estate-related questions lately – will the rising interest rates hurt the market? Will the market be impacted by the Feds increasing their rates overnight? Will the Ukraine situation slow down the real estate market? Will rising gas prices impact real estate? How does rising inflation affect the real estate market? So many good questions. Here are the answers – at least the ones I have today. Mortgage interest rates remain at historic lows, and as a matter of fact, they are below where they were before the pandemic started. Mortgage rates would have to get to the 6% range before they began to impact the market, and the government won’t let this happen. Presently, rates are at 3.75% for conforming loans – a reasonable rate, in my opinion. The Fed rate increases do not directly impact mortgage rates, so this will not be a considerable influence. Rising gas prices may hinder a few first-time buyers from entering the market (they are budget-conscious overall), but this will not slow down home buying demand. Inflation may hinder some people from buying, but in the end, it won’t affect our market. We are receiving multiple offers across all price points, so we will still have a robust real estate market even if half the buyers drop out. Lastly, if it gets worse, the situation in Ukraine may impact housing. At this time, it is helping to bring rates down, but it hasn’t slowed demand or slowed price appreciation. Only time will tell, but all is good on our real estate front right now.

There are many scenarios and questions out there but know that I am here to help answer them. Just give me a call to discuss everything with you!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

February 2022 Market Update

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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!

February 2021 Market Update

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Again, I have said it before, and I will repeat it, inventory levels on homes for sale in Northern Virginia are critically low! We currently have just 1,701 homes for sale in all of the counties we serve in Northern Virginia. The amazing fact is the number of condos that are currently for sale – 792 – which represents just under 50% of the total inventory. Condos typically do not reflect nearly 50% of the inventory levels … more on this later. 

Continuing with the numbers; there are only 646 single family homes currently on the market. Are you kidding me? There are only 235 townhouses total, again, WOW! Do you know what this means? The chances of multiple contract situations are possible on virtually every home on the market. We have had as many as 30 contracts submitted on one house in Gainesville priced at $635,000. It escalated above $700,000. We had another home in Aldie that had 78 showings and 62 visitors at the open house. This one was priced at $772,000 that had 21 offers and escalated to $831,700. It is insane – I cannot think of another word to describe it. 

A question I am frequently asked is when will it end? I think it will be a long time, as I believe it will be rate driven, and rates will remain low for the foreseeable future. Once rates rise to the 4 or 5% range, we will see a slowdown in contracts/purchasers, but not an inventory increase. Another question is, when will buyer burnout take them out of the market? My answer: it depends as this is and has always been an individual question. I have heard about prospective buyers writing as many as 15 contracts (on different homes) and still in the fight, while others are not even entering the market because of these “bidding” war situations. Typically, buyers will write until they win a bid on a property.  Usually, in a market like this, it has been between 3-5 times in my experience. 

One more question I hear is how do I buy if I must sell my house first? This one is more complicated, but I can give you details if you are interested. We have nine ways to make this work!

If you or someone you know would like to discuss their situation with me in more detail, whether it is purchasing or selling a home, please feel free to call me.

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!!

January 2021 Market Update

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Happy New Year!  Welcome to 2021!  I predict this will be yet another exciting year with lots of new challenges, adversity, change, and so much more. The good thing to note is out of these situations come positive outcomes for many if you keep the right mental attitude, stay adaptable, and take care of yourself and those around you. We do not know what lies ahead but keeping strong is as vital as ever.

I have been asked, “what is going to happen with real estate in 2021”?  It depends on whether you are a buyer, seller, renter, landlord, or investor. Inventory levels in Northern Virginia continue to decline. We ended the year with only 1,737 houses for sale in Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, and Fauquier Counties and all the cities located within this area. As you can imagine, this number is extremely low, historically speaking. This makes purchasing a home extraordinarily difficult for buyers. I am currently working with a buyer where we have bid $30,000 over list, $40,000 over list, and $50,000 over list and on three separate houses, and we have lost out on each of them. They are in the $400,000 – $500,000 price point. The listing agents said they were overwhelmed with offers and calls – one had 17 offers in hand in less than 24 hours. So, you can see the buying environment is uber-competitive. On the flip side, this makes it a great time to sell a home if you are looking to move. Depending on the price point, location and condition, sellers can expect multiple showings as well as multiple contracts with purchasers paying more than the sales price and waiving many, if not all, the contingencies associated with a sale. Renting houses is also a challenge as there is a .4-month supply of homes available, and of those, 40% are single-family or townhouses. Again, this makes being a landlord easier to get results as there is a brisk rental market in Northern Virginia. Most investors like houses that cash flow, and with prices being bid up, many investors are choosing to wait on the sidelines to see if more inventory comes on the market prior to getting into bidding wars. Time will tell if we get more inventory or not, but I believe we will experience low inventory throughout 2021. Call me to discuss your situation in more detail so we can help you make the right decisions.

So, the market that is struggling the most right now in our area is condos. In Arlington County, 84% of the resale inventory is condominiums. The average days on the market for a condo in Arlington is 76 days and the average overall days on the market for all properties in NOVA is 16. Quite a difference, right? The rental market is remarkably similar in all of NOVA – condos are on the market for 126 days, and single-family and townhouses are on the market for 42 days. Be careful when considering an investment in condos right now.

As always, I am happy to speak with you about your situation as each one is different.  Happy New Year, and as always, be safe, make wise decisions when you go in public, so you

October 2020 Market Update

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Real estate continues to be the shining light in the current economic recovery. Buyer demand, housing prices, and new and existing home sales continue to be strong – not only in Northern Virginia but also across the country. Our issue continues to be low inventory levels for the demand that we are presently experiencing. As of today, we have 30% less inventory of homes for sale versus this same time last year. The median days a house stayed on the market in August was just six days, so as you can see, demand is there.

Additionally, prices are up year to date 7.95% over last year’s pricing. The pandemic pushed the housing market back about three months, so what would typically be a slower time of the year is one of our strongest. If you are considering selling, now is an ideal time as we couple all this data with the fact that we have the lowest interest rates in the history of tracking. Contact me to discuss your situation in more detail if you are considering selling.

So, where is the market headed into the future? There is talk of another foreclosure crisis that could lead us into a Great Recession… will this happen? There is a housing bubble, and prices are going to crash… will this happen? My answer is no to both. First, we have low inventory levels and high demand. In October 2006, we had just under 23,000 houses for sale; today, we have 3,014. If properties are foreclosed on by banks and released to the market, they would sell quickly and not put us into a housing crisis. Again, back then, we had a 10-month supply of houses, today we have a .8-month supply of houses – a considerable difference. Back then, people “walked away” from their homes because of price drops and lending practices; this is not going to happen now. Today’s loan products, loan qualifications, and lending guidelines are nowhere like what they were prior to the Great Recession.

Back then, we had exotic loan programs, 100% financing programs, teaser rate loan products, and just bad underwriting guidelines. Homeowners today are more financially stable, which will result in fewer foreclosures. If there is an area that may be in jeopardy, it would be in the Mom and Pop landlord arena.  Basically, people who have one or two investment properties may not be able to “carry” the houses if their tenants are unemployed. This is a small segment, so I don’t see it significantly impacting our market.

Additionally, prices are rising, but not at the rate they were in 2004 – 22% year over year increases, 2005 – 24% price increase year over year and in 2006 it was 23%. As I mentioned, we are at a reasonable pace of 7.95% today; therefore, I do not foresee a crash in prices like we saw in the past. We will see a decline in housing price increases, but not a decline in prices… big difference. Our market is stable and will continue to be so for some time, in my opinion. If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to call me. 

Enjoy the weather! Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

September 2020 Market Update

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Here Comes Fall (and all things pumpkin spice)

The Global Pandemic has not slowed down the real estate market here in Northern Virginia. Low inventory levels continue to be the main issue as there are many buyers in the market and not enough homes to purchase. Couple this with historically low-interest rates, and we have a solid seller’s market, which also means we have an extremely challenging buyer’s market. Today, the median days on the market are just six days, and the average days on market are only 19. Now, of course, there are some properties in specific locations and price points that are staying on the market longer, but generally speaking, most houses are selling quickly. Buyers need to make decisions swiftly and make solid offers if they want to be in the running as the next owner of their home of choice.

In today’s market, we do have some additional challenges, not just the shortage of homes for sale. A remarkably close second challenge we are experiencing involves the lending process if the buyer does not select the right lender. For example, we are encountering long lead times for appraisals, lack of urgency to close loans on time (they treat the purchase transactions like a refinance and the loan is in the order it was received,) numerous appraisals coming in low as buyers are escalating prices above market price and response time frames from the loan officer as they are overwhelmed with refinances. As a side note, it is extremely important to select the right lender when you are accepting a contract on your listing or when you are buying your home. The highest offer is not always the best offer.

Additionally, we have a lot of stress in the market. Buyers are losing out on multiple homes, which causes frustration. Sellers not receiving offers as high as they believe they should make them anxious. Agents can be rude, arrogant, unresponsive, and unprofessional, which causes everyone to stress out.  It is so important today to hire the right agent to guide you through the home selling or home buying process, an agent that knows how to navigate with you for a smooth and seamless process. So, if you are looking to sell or buy a house today, call me – I have helped many others successfully buy and sell properties in today’s unbalanced market.

I hope you have a great Labor Day!

May 2020 Market Update

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Hopefully, you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy during these unprecedented times. As previously mentioned, real estate is considered an essential business and as such, we have adapted to new ways of conducting business. Yes, homes are being purchased, sold, and leased – people need shelter. We are lucky as we can help those in need of our services. Due to the different lockdown restrictions, many of my friends across the country and around the world cannot help people with their housing needs. It is strange to me how in some areas, lenders, title companies, home inspectors, appraisers, and other professionals are considered essential, but REALTORS are not.  Not to being political here but how can REALTORS not be deemed essential and the others can be? How can they conduct their business without a REALTOR selling the house prior to needing their services?  Odd to me.

Locally, we are practicing all real estate services albeit on a more limited basis and in a different way.  We are doing virtual showings for buyers who do not want to go out to see homes in person. We are conducting virtual open houses and scheduling appointment only showings during the virtual open houses. Settlements are outside or even drive up style – many with no REALTORS present.  We are also seeing e-closings with no one present in the same room. We are wearing masks, gloves, and booties during showings and bringing disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer – for everyone’s health and safety. If you are considering buying, selling, or leasing a house, it is still possible and I am willing and able to help, so let’s discuss how this all works in more detail.

Now, let’s talk numbers. Inventory levels remain low – 34% below this same time last year. We currently have only 2,974 houses for sale in all of Northern Virginia. Contracts written the previous 30 days are down 31% versus the same week last year. Lastly, closings the previous 30 days are down 20% from the same time last year. Now, the good news is sales have gone up each of the last four weeks and when houses do come on the market, they sell quickly when priced right and they are in the right condition.  We continue to see multiple contracts in many homes throughout the area as well. We have had many buyers move to the sidelines during the pandemic and some sellers have decided to wait or have pulled their homes off the market until “the coast is clear”. One thing is for certain, we will have a lot of pent up demand for housing when we return to a new normal as we have more buyers on the sidelines than sellers. I envision an even more competitive housing market in the future.

Be safe, make wise decisions when going out in public so you and your family remain healthy.

January 2020 Market Update

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Happy New Year!

As we enter the New Year and New Decade of the 2020’s we are experiencing the lowest levels of available homes for sale in years. We currently have just 1,946 homes for sale in all of Northern Virginia. We have a serious need for more houses to come on the market! As of the end of December, we were experiencing multiple contract situations on many houses throughout our area – as many as 23 offers on one house. The demand is there, the housing supply is not. Sales last year outpaced sales from 2018 by nearly 1.5% through November and should outpace sales through December as well. Interest rates remain very low making it more attractive to buy versus rent in many cases. Those who previously suffered credit damage from the housing crisis during the great recession in the mid-2000s are now recovered and property values are increasing making now a more desirable to time own. Therefore, we now have a lot of pent up demand for housing at all price points.

Additionally, there is also a shortage of rentals available on the market, so when they do become available, they rent quickly. There is currently just a half month’s supply of rental houses in Northern Virginia. These factors definitely make it an ideal time to sell or rent your home. Call me to learn more about how you can position yourself for success in this market when making this decision.

Overall the economy is strong in Northern Virginia. Unemployment is very low in our area and with Amazon ahead on their hiring, I don’t see a change in this for us. The only issues we are really facing are the trade talks with China and Trump says the phase one agreement will be signed mid-January and the Iranian situation. Will this escalate to yet another war? If either of these issues goes awry, we could have economic problems that could affect the market as we know, only time will tell.

The good news is we continue to have a robust real estate market and I am available to help you when you are looking to make a move.  Make the 20’s your best ever!

October 2019 Mid Month Market Update

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Here’s your latest real estate market update for Northern Virginia. Inventory is low, it’s a seller’s market! And with interest rates still at an all-time low, not is a great time to buy!

What do you think? How is the market in your area?

Thinking of buying or selling? I’m happy to provide you with a free market analysis if your home. Give me a call to talk about your specific situation and needs. Call me at 703-652-5777 or email at scottmacdonald@remax.net

October 2019 Market Update

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It is hard to believe we are entering the 4th Quarter of 2019 already.

It will be interesting to see what the vision of the real estate market will be in 2020. Right now, the real estate market is very dynamic and very hyperlocal. We see inventory levels remaining low relative to previous years. We currently have a total of 4,122 houses for sale in Northern Virginia – 33% fewer homes for sale through September this year versus last year. Homes priced below $350,000 represent only 719 houses with only 45 of these are located in Arlington. The Amazon Effect in full force in Arlington. Homes priced between $350,000 and $700,000 make up 1,822 homes of the total inventory numbers, only 46 of these are located in Arlington. Lastly, houses priced above $700,000 make up 1,582 of the houses for sale in the marketplace and there are only 118 in this price range located in Arlington.

As you can see, the market is different in each location, I just picked Arlington as an example.  That does not tell the whole story – prices are up year over year in all of Northern Virginia by 3.6% while in Arlington, they are up 12.4%. Additionally, the median days on market in all of Northern Virginia is 15 days on the market and in Arlington…you guessed it, lower at only 8 days on the market. The market is definitely hot for sellers “if” you price it right and do the right upgrades. Buyers will pay for ready to go houses and will pass on the ones that need work or updating.

This being said, housing prices are up year over year throughout our area – just not substantially. The 3.8% is healthy and sustainable. The issue we are having is sellers are trying to attain 5% per month and therefore the houses are not selling. In today’s market, buyers are being very discerning on prices and are not making offers including low offers. Sellers who overprice their houses or price in “negotiating room” find themselves sitting.

If you are looking to buy or sell in today’s dynamic market, call me today to set up a no-obligation consultation to learn more.

Enjoy the cooler temperatures heading our way! Happy Halloween!