Indicators of the strength of the regional housing market are mixed, according to the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, despite news that the sale of new homes fell sharply around the nation.
The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday reported a 3.9 percent drop in the sale of new single family homes nationwide from January to February. This is the slowest rate in nearly seven years, and follows a month where the sale of these kinds of homes dropped 15.8 percent from December, the largest one-month drop in 13 years. Poor sales rates pushed the median price of a new home to $250,000 in February, down 0.3 percent from last year.
The Commerce Department report sent markets lower in the morning, although indexes recovered in afternoon trading.
The only areas where sales increased was the West, which saw a 24.6 percent jump. In the South — including the national capital region — sales fell 7 percent, compared with 26.8 percent drop in the Northeast and a 20 percent drop in the Midwest. Statistics for individual states was not made public. The Northern Virginia Association of Realtors does not track the sale of new homes, but does track existing home sales, which increased almost 7 percent in February.
Other indicators show houses are staying on the market 71 percent longer than they did a year ago, with the average price down nearly 2 percent, from $514,116 to $504,943.
“You’re dealing with overbuilding in Loudoun County and Prince William County,” Northern Virginia Association of Realtors spokeswoman Jill Landsman said.
Landsman said February’s cold weather likely kept the number of home sales down, but that warmer weather should bring out more buyers.
“The spring season is the best out of the year,” she said. “It’s a good sign that we’ve thawed.”
