home sales

Northern Virginia's residential real estate market in June had a billion-dollar sales month. That's the first time in almost three years that the region's home sales have reached a billion dollars.

A total of $1.07 billion worth of real estate transactions closed in June, according to Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc., the area’s multiple-listing service. That’s a 9.3% increase over the $978.99 million logged last year, and is the highest one-month total since June 2007.

Increases in sales volume suggest that the region's real estate market is recovering. That's good news for homeowners, who may see the value and saleability of their properties increase.

Read more in the Sun Gazette....

Roanoke-area home sales rose 14% in April over last year, likely a result of buyers rushing to sign housing contracts in time to qualify for federal tax credits.

According to the Roanoke Valley Association of Realtors, 328 area homes were sold during the month, compared with 287 in April 2009.  The average price of a house also rose, to $182,471, up from $176,964 in April 2009, the association said.

RealtyTrac, a national foreclosure-monitoring service, reports that foreclosures are up in the Hampton Roads area -- a trend that is being noted across the U.S. The latest statistics put the number of bank-owned properties at the highest quarterly total on record. Bank-owned properties are foreclosed properties that fail to sell at auction.

There is also some good news: nationally, March sales of existing homes were up 16.1% over March 2009, according to the National Association of Realtors. Seasonally adjusted new-home sales were up 26.9% from March 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Read more in the Daily Press....

Homeowners in Hampton Roads are working hard to sell before the homebuyer tax credits expire next month. Two credits are available: $8,000 for first-time buyers or buyers who haven't owned a home in three years, and $6,500 for those who've owned their current or latest home for five years.

To qualify for the credit, buyers have to sign a contract by April 30 -- a powerful incentive that property owners hope to take advantage of.

Read more in The Virginian-Pilot....

The Full Year 2009

• Statewide, existing home sales in Virginia were slightly higher than in 2008 --  86,609 units sold, up 1.6% (the first increase since 2005).
• Sales were up month-to-month over 2008 for the last five months of the year; in November 2009 it was 44% higher than November 2008.
• At the same time, the 2009 median sales price -- $240,809 -- was 4.2% lower than in 2008. 
• New home sales were down in every month compared to 2008, but, while the median sales price of those new homes also decreased year to year, in November that decrease was the lowest (only 1.4% off 2008, as opposed to April, which was down 13.6% over 2008).

Of course, statistics for different regions in the state will vary. In the South Central region, for example, sales were down 14.5% from 2008, but prices were up 1.5%; in the Upper Shenandoah Valley, it was the opposite: sales up 5.4%, prices down 15%.

Fourth Quarter Sales

• Despite that dip, though, statewide home sales were up more than 18 percent over Quarter 3 2008.
• In fact, quarterly sales showed double-digit growth for 18 of the 29 local Realtor^® associations, and only declined in five regions: Eastern Shore, Lexington/Buena Vista, Prince William, South Central, and Southern Piedmont. 
• In Southwest Virginia, Q4 sales were up 327.4% from 2008, and in Williamsburg they were up 121.3%. Keep in mind that there was a significant drop in sales in December, as the $8,000 tax credit was expected to expire, which may have skewed the Q4 numbers.

Fourth Quarter Prices

• The median home price was down 8.5% statewide from Q4 2008 to Q4 2009, but it varied considerably between regions.
• At the ends of the bell curve we have Chesapeake Bay & Rivers with a 23.8% decrease, and Prince William with a 24.1% increase, while Lynchburg and New River Valley saw virtually no change.

Foreclosures

• Statewide, foreclosures were up in Virginia by 33.8% in 2009 over 2008, but that's well below the nation as a whole, which saw them jump 55.3%.

• However, foreclosures were down 19.1% statewide from Q3 to Q4 2009 (they had gone up from Q2 to Q3, so that was a nice change).

Read the full Virginia Association of REALTORS home sales report...