House hunters can afford to be picky this summer. With more time and money on the buyer’s side, the region’s house prices are rising largely because fewer homes are selling for more money compared with last year, when first-time homebuyers on tighter budgets and lured by incentives
flooded the market.
“During the tax-credit period … you saw the lower end of the market see a disproportionate level of activity — that brought the overall market down,” said Jonathan Miller, president and chief executive officer of real estate consulting firm Miller Samuel.
| Pricier houses a better bet | ||||
| May 2011 statistics show growth for single-family homes: | ||||
| Attached | Detached | Rate of | Rate of | |
| average | average | detached | detached | |
| price | price | sold ’11 | sold ’10 | |
| District | $486,193 | $709,693 | 1 of 5.5 | 1 of 6.9 |
| Alexandria | $429,456 | $796,565 | 1 of 4.6 | 1 of 5.2 |
| Arlington | $432,900 | $801,086 | 1 of 2.3 | 1 of 2.9 |
| Fairfax | $316,949 | $628,677 | 1 of 1.9 | 1 of 2.1 |
| Loudoun | $289,391 | $539,932 | 1 of 1.9 | 1 of 1.9 |
| Prince William | $198,881 | $337,997 | 1 of 1.7 | 1 of 1.8 |
| Montgomery | $294,831 | $595,520 | 1 of 1.7 | 1 of 1.8 |
| Prince George’s | $117,505 | $194,214 | 1 of 1.4 | 1 of 1.4 |
| Source: MRIS | ||||
Houses are staying on the market nearly three weeks longer and fewer of them are selling compared with last year, according to data from MRIS, which collects data on local real estate. Yet home prices are steadily rising — median prices for the region rose by 4 percent in May compared with the prior year, according to MRIS.
That push is because single-family homes — typically more expensive than condos and townhouses — are selling more frequently than last year. Overall, the number of homes sold during May pale in comparison to the buyer push last May to close and qualify for the homebuyer’s tax credit. But in nearly every jurisdiction, single-family home sales are taking up a larger piece of the overall pie than they did last year. Ratios stayed relatively flat in Loudoun and Prince George’s counties, where there is a much smaller supply of attached units.
“It’s not because the market’s getting better per se,” Miller said. “In theory it is, but these prices are also a result of the shift in the mix.”
What’s selling has a lot to do with who’s buying, said Tracy Ronchon, a real estate agent in Northern Virginia. The rushed, first-time homebuyers looking for a deal are gone and replaced by the more leisurely shopper looking to upgrade and who can afford to wait.
As such, the fastest-selling homes in the Washington area for the last three months have been priced between $500,000 and $800,000, according to MRIS.
“Today’s buyer is pickier than last year,” Ronchon said. “And last year it was in vogue to buy a [bank-owned property] or short sale because people had the tax credit coming. Buyers still are not intimidated [by those properties] but if they’re going to wait six months that house had better be perfect.”
