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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tradelite who wrote (21791)	6/24/2004 2:18:17 PM
From: Tradelite	Respond to of 306849

Home Sales Dip a Bit in Northern Virginia in May by SCOTT McCAFFREY Staff Writer sun-gazette.com Sales of existing homes across Fairfax County, which enjoyed a strong early spring season, cooled a bit in May, according to figures released last week by the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors. A total of 2,004 homes changed hands during the month, down from 2,075 in May 2003. That’s a decline of 5.4 percent. For the first five months of the year, sales remained in positive territory. A total of 8,118 homes were sold during that period in 2004, compared to 8,022 in 2003, an increase of 1.2 percent. Sales broke down this way: * A total of 1,625 single-family homes were sold in May, down 2.4 percent from a year ago. For the first five months of the year, sales totaled 6,432, up 3.6 percent from 2003 figures. The average price of a single-family home sold in May across Fairfax County was $461,044, up from $413,226 a year ago. * A total of 389 condominiums were sold in May, down 5.1 percent from a year ago. For the first five months of the year, sales totaled 1,686, down 7.1 percent. The average price of a condominium sold in May across Fairfax County was $224,961, up from $189,454 a year ago. Rising interest rates and five years of a red-hot market may be contributing to the slower pace of May’s figures, several Realtors said. But the market is hardly in a significant downturn, they suggested, rather a period of modest cooling. At the upper end of the sales spectrum, sales continue to do well. A total of 54 properties valued at $1 million or more were sold in May, compared to 45 a year ago. For the first five months of the year, sales of million-dollar homes totaled 195, up from 141. The available inventory of homes on the market has been rising since February, and at the end of May stood at 2,104 available properties across Fairfax. That’s the highest it’s been since last fall, but still lower than what it was in May 2003. The inventory of available condominiums at the end of May was higher than it has been in more than a year. A total of 2,632 single-family homes and 589 condos came onto the market in Fairfax during May. Across the inner suburbs of Northern Virginia, sales in May totaled 2,894, up 3.1 percent from a year ago. The average sales price across the region was $442,815, up a whopping 22 percent from a ear ago. Where is the market headed in the near term? The number of contracts written on Fairfax County homes in May was up nicely (11.3 percent) for single-family homes and more modestly (1.9 percent) for condos when compared to a year ago. Those figures should translate into settlements in the coming month or two. Sales figures are taken from the Metropolitan Regional Information System, and include most, but not all, homes sold during the period. All figures are subject to revision.