Year-over-year monthly home sales in Prince William declined in June for the first time since February 2008, while sales picked up in nearly every other D.C. area jurisdiction.
In Prince William, Manassas and Manassas Park, 795 homes were sold in June, compared to 976 in June 2008 — a nearly 20 percent drop — according to Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc.
Investors who were probably in the market earlier are starting to get out, a normal trend for the summer months, said Elijah Johnson, director of Prince William’s Department of Housing and Community Development.
“We hope that it’s just the natural progression of the market,” Johnson said.
The county is preparing to apply for a second round of Neighborhood Stabilization Program funding through the federal stimulus package to rehabilitate and resell foreclosed homes. Supervisors are set to vote Tuesday on whether to enter into a consortium with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments that would apply collectively for the funds with other jurisdictions, including Fairfax, Alexandria and Prince George’s County.
If investors start to leave the market, more families could get back in, which is the goal of these kinds of programs, Johnson said.
Loudoun County’s home sales also declined last month by about 5 percent from June 2008, as the two exurbs bucked a regional trend. The NVAR region (Fairfax County, Fairfax, Arlington County, Alexandria and Falls Church), Montgomery County, Prince George’s and the District all saw home sales rise by more than 10 percent in June.
The trend appears to parallel recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which said that many of the country’s largest cities were now outpacing growth in the nation’s suburbs, reversing a recent pattern of booming growth in the country’s suburbs and exurbs.
All of the areas saw a drop in median sold price in June, according to the data.
Increased foreclosures are creating excess supply in the area, and people who had good credit are now out of the market because they’re losing their jobs, said LaVaughn Henry, senior director of U.S. Economic Analysis for the PMI Group.
“Either way you cut it, there’s a pressure on prices to fall,” he said.
Units sold % change median sold price % change
2009 2008 2009 2008
NVAR* 2,169 1,900 14.16 $392,367 $416,000 -5.68
Loudoun 523 553 -5.42 $345,000 $359,000 -3.90
MoCo 1,099 909 20.90 $376,900 $445,000 -15.30
PWAR** 795 976 -18.55 $195,000 $232,250 -16.04
PG 536 450 19.11 $225,000 $278,250 -19.14
DC 612 550 11.27 $417,900 $425,000 -1.67
* Fairfax County, Fairfax City, Arlington County, Alexandria City, Falls Church City
**Prince William County, Manassas City, Manassas Park City
Source: Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc.
