Published by Virginia Association of REALTORS速, the advocate for real estate professionals and property owners in Virginia.
2012
J U L Y
VIRGINIA HOME SALES REPORT
Virginia Monthly Home Sales Report
July 2012
Virginia's Monthly Pace of Residential Sales Single Family, Townhomes, Condos 12,000
10,000
9,632 9,046
8,000
7,970
8,422
8,138 7,656 7,276 6,916
6,762 6,267
6,076
5,945
6,000 5,089
4,000
+6%
2,000
0 Jul-11
Aug-11
Sep-11
Oct-11
Nov-11
Dec-11
Jan-12
Feb-12
Mar-12
Apr-12
May-12
Jun-12
Jul-12
The pace of Virginia home sales continued to increase in July 2012 with a 6% year over year increase to 8,422 home sales. Virginia’s residential housing market has been strong throughout 2012, likely due to continued low unemployment rates in Virginia, as well as record low mortgage interest rates. If 2011 home sales are a predictor of the future, we should expect to see another strong month of sales in August 2012, followed by a decline into the fall months.
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Virginia Monthly Home Sales Report
July 2012
Virginia Median Residential Sales Price Single Family Homes, Townhomes, Condos
$256,000
$255,050
$249,900
$238,000
$225,000
$210,000
$204,000
$225,000
$220,000
$215,000
$223,860
$239,900
$241,000
$245,000
$225,000
$225,000
$214,000
$213,700
$232,500
$236,000
$229,700
$239,888
$205,000
Median Sales Price
$250,000
$250,000
$255,220
$300,000
$200,000
+6%
$150,000
+0.3%
$100,000
Alongside a 6% increase in the pace of home sales in Virginia (see Page 2), we also witnessed an increase in median sales prices in Virginia. The median sales price in July 2012 ($256000) marks a 6% increase from one year earlier ($$241,000), and a 0.3% increase from two years ago ($255,220). This is also the highest median sales price seen in over two years in Virginia. It is typical in Virginia to see a steady increase in median sales price between January and July, thus we should expect to see median prices start to decline during through the fall months. The increased pace of buyer activity is certainly helping to provide further stabilization and growth in median sales prices.
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Virginia Monthly Home Sales Report
July 2012
Virginia Monthly Residential Sales Volume Single Family Homes, Townhomes, Condos 3,500
3,071 3,000 2,786
Millions of Dollars of Residential Sales
2,639 2,500
2,409
2,423 2,259 2,038
1,958
2,000
1,889 1,715
1,699 1,561
1,500
1,320
1,000
+10%
500
0 Jul-11
Aug-11
Sep-11
Oct-11
Nov-11
Dec-11
Jan-12
Feb-12
Mar-12
Apr-12
May-12
Jun-12
Jul-12
The total volume of real estate sold in Virginia during July 2012 ($2.6B) marks a significant 10% increase in the volume of real estate being transferred as compared to last July. Given the recent increases in median sales prices (see Page 3), we should expect to see further increases in overall sales volume as the pace of sales increases (see Page 2).
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Virginia Monthly Home Sales Report
July 2012
Virginia Average Days On Market Single Family Homes, Townhomes, Condos 120
-10% +11%
107 101 101
100
99
99
95 91 85
Average Days On Market
80
80
86
80
97
96
93 88
89
99
101 101
105
103
90 83 79
80
60
40
20
0
After an 11% increase in average days on market between July 2010 (80 days on market) and July 2011 (89 days on market) Virginia’s housing market then experienced a matching decline of 10% in this metric over the past year back to 80 days on market. It is typical to see an increase in average days on market during the fall and winter months, thus we will likely see this metric start to increase over the next several months.
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Virginia Monthly Home Sales Report
July 2012
Virginia Unemployment Rate Source: Bureau of Labor & Statistics
5.7%
5.6%
5.6%
5.6%
5.7%
6%
5.8%
6.1%
6.2%
6.4%
6.5%
6.3%
6.1%
6.0%
6.0%
6.1%
6.3%
6.6%
6.9%
6.4%
6.5%
6.4%
6.5%
7%
6.9%
8%
6.9%
7.0%
9%
5% 4% Jun-10
Sep-10
Dec-10
Mar-11
Jun-11
Sep-11
Dec-11
Mar-12
Jun-12
Virginia’s unemployment rate continue to hover in the 5.6% - 5.7% range where it has lingered for most of 2012. The current level of 5.7% places Virginia in 10th place in the country for lowest unemployment rates.
Average 30-Year Mortgage Interest Rates Source: FreddieMac 4.8% 4.6%
4.55%
4.4% 4.22%
4.2%
4.01%
4.0%
4.10%
3.98%
3.95%
3.98%
3.95%
3.99%
3.8%
3.88% 3.75%
3.6%
3.66% 3.49%
3.4% 3.2% 3.0% Jul-11
Aug-11
Sep-11
Oct-11
Nov-11
Dec-11
Jan-12
Feb-12
Mar-12
Apr-12
May-12
Jun-12
Jul-12
Average 30-year fixed mortgage interest rates hit yet another historic low in July 2012 with an average rate of 3.49% at the end of the month. This marks over a full percentage point decline as compared to one year ago (4.55%). These tremendously low interest rates make it quite compelling for buyers to step into the market, given how they can protect themselves from inflation by fixing their housing costs at such a low, long term rate.
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Virginia Monthly Home Sales Report
July 2012
The Virginia Association of REALTORS® (VAR) is the business advocate for real estate professionals in Virginia. VAR represents more than 29,000 REALTORS active in all phases of real estate brokerage, management, development and appraisal. Our mission is to enhance our membership’s ability to achieve business success. All inquiries regarding this report should be directed to: Stacey Ricks, Director of Public Relations Virginia Association of REALTORS® 10231 Telegraph Road, Glen Allen, VA 23059 (804) 249-5716 Stacey@VARealtor.com www.VARealtor.com/HomeSales Information sourced from multiple listing services across the state with data compiled by R E Stats Inc. All information is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed. Figures might not match those reported elsewhere.
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