Blog Post: Sellers Smiling, Buyers Build Confidence

We turn the calendar to March and with the sun shining and temps rising into the 60’s, we start thinking “spring." And what’s more “spring” than the spring real estate market?

Here’s what happening in Vienna and Oakton:

1. BOTH markets appear to have moved into a Seller’s Market. Not only is housing supply at three months or less in both areas, but we are seeing more and more competing contract situations on homes that are prepared properly and priced right. Buyers who are successful in purchasing the homes of their dreams are those who come prepared - who know exactly what they want when they see it, have their loans fully approved, earnest money deposits ready and no existing home sale contingencies. They realize that this is no longer a Buyer’s Market. (In some areas like Vienna and Oakton, it’s been more than a year - probably several - since that has been the case.) And sellers who were savvy and entered the market early are definitely smiling this week!

2. In February, average days on market for homes that went under contract was 84 days in Oakton and 89 days in Vienna. We expect that to drop slightly as we enter spring because the February statistics include homes that came on the market during the slowest part of the year in late 2011. Here’s the breakdown of how quickly homes sold in February:

VIENNA:

• 35 homes sold in less than 2 weeks
• 11 homes sold in 15-30 days
• 5 homes sold in 31-60 days
• 7 homes sold in 61-90 days
• 25 homes sold in 91+ days (up to 1,028 days!)

OAKTON:

• 9 homes sold in 2 weeks or less
• 5 homes sold in 15-30 days
• 2 homes sold in 31-60 days
• 3 homes sold in 61-90 days
• 10 homes sold in 91+ days (up to 526 days!)

Here are the stats for the past week:

Last week in Vienna Real Estate (22180,22181, 22182):

• Number of Contracts: 22
• Average Days on Market for Active Listings: 118 days
• Average Days on Market for Listings That Went Under Contract: 78 days
• Inventory: 168 homes on the market
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 90 day contract rate): 2.9 months
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 30 day contract rate): 2.0 months

Here are last week’s stats for Oakton Real Estate (22124):

• Number of Contracts: 5
• Average Days on Market for Active Listings: 109 days
• Average Days on Market for Listings That Went Under Contract: 78
• Inventory: 56 homes on the market
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 90 day contract rate): 3.0 months
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 30 day contract rate): 1.9 months

Also, you can read more about:

• What Sellers Should Look For In A Realtor 
• Today’s Top 3 Tech Tools To Market Your Home
• Why You Don’t Want To Miss Out on “The Belt Team Experience”

You can also listen to How Buyers Should Choose The Right Realtor.

For more from the Belt Team, visit their blog.