NoVa housing market remains hot

NVAR reports 54% increase in month-over-month new contract activity

Published April 16, 2021 by Rich Griset

Virginia saw 11,518 home sales in March, an increase of 9.6% over March 2020.

Northern Virginia is continuing to see high levels of housing activity, a trend also taking place around the state and around the country.

In an April 13 news release, the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors (NVAR) states that March saw a 54% month-over-month increase in new contract activity in the region, with 2,781 new pending contracts and a 26% month-over-month increase in total pending sales.

“More housing inventory came on the market in March, yet those listings were snapped up quickly; there are simply more buyers than available homes for sale,” said Derrick Swaak, 2021 president of NVAR and a partner and managing broker with TTR Sotheby’s International Realty in McLean, in a statement. “As a result, total dollar sales volume in March was up 25% versus the same month last year. The average March sales price increased 7% across Northern Virginia compared to last year as prospective buyers often found themselves in multiple offer competitions, pushing the limits of what they can afford.”

Realtors in the region also reported an increase in “sight unseen” offers by buyers because of the limited supply of homes. In an informal poll by NVAR of 115 respondents on April 7, more than one-third had presented an offer on behalf of clients who had not actually seen the home; almost one-half had received a “sight unseen” offer on behalf of their seller clients.

“If we’d done this poll two years ago, we probably wouldn’t have seen [these results],” said David Howell, executive vice president and chief information officer with Alexandria-based McEnearney Associates.

While the total number of active listings was down at the end of March compared to the previous March, the number of new listings increased about 9% in the same timeframe. March’s new listings also exceed the previous month’s: There were 2,029 new listings in February 2021, compared to 3,067 new listings in March.

On average, homes on the market in Northern Virginia sold in 20 days in March. That is 25% below the five-year March average of 27 days. Homes continue to sell above listing price, with an average sale price of 101.4% compared to its listing price.

Last month saw 846 active condo listings and 555 active single-family detached homes available. In contrast, last year saw 467 condos listed for sale and 1,217 single-family homes available.