Home sales soar Homes in the Washington area posted one of the biggest yearly gains in prices in the nation in the fourth quarter, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The median price of an existing home was up 8.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2009 to $331,100.
Existing home prices were higher in 78 markets — more than half of the nation’s cities — including 10 with double-digit increases.
Pending sales jump in area
Washington-area real estate agents were busy in January, with pending sales of existing homes in the region up 31 percent from a year ago.
New data from Metropolitan Regional Information Systems shows 3,198 purchase contracts were signed in the region in January — the highest monthly and yearly increases in pending sales activity in more than a decade.
Pending sales measures the number of signed contracts, but sales not yet closed.
Vanda Pharmaceuticals posts profit
Rockville company Vanda Pharmaceuticals reported a positive fourth quarter. The company’s fourth-quarter net income was $2.2 million, or 8 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $9.2 million, or 34 cents per share, a year earlier.
Vanda, which focuses on the development and commercialization of products for central nervous system disorders, said monthly prescriptions of its Fanapt drug increased from more than 6,000 in September to more than 8,000 in December. For the year, more than 55,000 prescriptions have been written.
