Washington-area home prices increased in both January and February, spurring hope for an extended rebound in the local housing market.
House prices in the region rose nearly 4 percent in January from the year before, for the second-highest jump in the nation, according to data released Thursday by First American CoreLogic. Boston ranked first, at 4.65 percent. Nationally, home prices declined by 0.7 percent over the same period.
Last month, Fairfax, Montgomery, Loudoun and Prince William counties all posted year-over-year increases in median sold prices, according to data from Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. The modest gains were a sharp contrast to last February, when home prices were still plummeting throughout the region. Prince William prices, for example, dropped 36 percent from 2008 to 2009 and jumped 31 percent from 2009 to 2010.
House prices in Prince George’s County fell 16 percent last month — still an improvement over the 24 percent drop from February 2008 to February 2009.
Next door in Montgomery County, agents toted snow shovels and climbed snow drifts last month because people were so eager to look at houses, according to Shelly Murray, president of the Greater Capital Association of Realtors.
“Almost every house under $400,000 [is] getting multiple offers,” she said.
There was a consistent reason cited by local agents for the strong February performance.
“Three words: pent-up demand,” said Debbie Cook, an agent in Silver Spring. “It’s crazy out there right now. Overall, things are selling fast … but the prices aren’t where they were two years ago.”
Still, First American CoreLogic is projecting a price increase of 1.84 percent for the area from January 2010 to January 2011. Lingering unemployment is a factor both the local and national housing markets will have to deal with.
“At this point, what’s really, really important is that the labor market improves,” said Andy Bauer, a regional economist at the Baltimore branch of the Richmond Federal Reserve. “There’s a lot of things in play.”
