A snapshot of Washington's early-spring housing market

March 11, 2010
The Washington Post
Local Address Blog
Elizabeth Razzi

It's getting competitive out there in the Washington-area housing market, according to real estate brokers and buyers. And HYPERLINK "http://www.mris.com/reports/stats/monthly_reti.cfm" February market statistics just reported from Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, the local multiple listing service, back up their reports.

Shelly Murray, president of the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors and a Weichert broker, said, "I'm seeing quite a few multiple offers. My agents (working with buyers through Weichert's Germantown office) are feeling that they're in competition most of the time with other agents."

Average time on the market has fallen dramatically from last year. Time on market fell most dramatically in Manassas Park, where it is down 79 percent. A home there spent only 22 days on the market, on average, in February, according to MRIS statistics. In Prince George's County, which still has the largest average time on the market, that statistic fell 28 percent from last year to 102 days. Here are the stats for other localities:

Alexandria, down 34 percent to 63 days
Arlington, down 32 percent to 61 days
District of Columbia, down 26 percent to 83 days
Fairfax County, down 52 percent to 54 days
Fauquier County, down 30 percent to 98 days
Frederick County, Md., down 45 percent to 88 days
Loudoun County, down 49 percent to 52 days
Montgomery County, down 33 percent to 79 days
Prince William Co., Manassas & Manassas Park, down 53 percent to 44 days
Stafford County, down 48 percent to 62 days.
Bucking the trend was the City of Falls Church, where time on market went up 20 percent to 76 days.

Average sale prices in all jurisdictions were at least 90 percent of the average list price in February. Prince William County ran highest in February, with homes selling for 97 percent of list price, on average. Prince George's and Stafford counties were the lowest, with homes fetching 91 percent of list price. Most of those percentages were in the 80s a year ago. JoAnne Darling, president-elect of the Prince George's County Association of Realtors said buyers and sellers alike are being more realistic about the price of homes now.

"Multiple offers are reasonably common on competitively priced properties," she said.

Median sale prices in most jurisdictions were higher in February than a year ago. The shift could reflect a larger number of more-expensive homes being sold as well as the possibility that an individual home gained value. Here are the stats:

Alexandria, median sold price was up 33 percent
Arlington, up 4 percent
District of Columbia, down 6 percent
Fairfax County, up 12 percent
Fauquier County, up 3 percent
Frederick County, Md., down 4 percent
Loudoun County, up 16 percent
Montgomery County, up 5 percent
Prince George's County, down 16 percent
Prince William Co., Manassas, Manassas Park, up 27 percent
Stafford County, up 7 percent

There aren't enough listings to satisfy demand, especially among first-time buyers, several agents have told me, and anecdotal reports I'm hearing from buyers echo their reports. Donna Evers, owner/broker of Evers & Co. Real Estate in the District, said that even higher-priced homes are in limited supply. She said February's snowy weather pushed the spring market back by about two weeks, interfering with sellers' clean-up and repair work. "The good stuff is just not there," she said. "It will be coming on."