National Housing Market News This Week

You have may have read earlier this week that the U.S. housing market is on the rise! That is good news for all of us and hopefully for our overall national economy. Some national housing experts seem to think the worst is now behind us. What has fueled the current housing market? Well in working with lots of buyers this spring and summer I can tell you some of the reasons:

• $8,000 first time home buyers credit
• Low interest rates
• Price affordability

The National Association of Realtors reported the sales of previously owned U.S. homes in July rose to an annual rate of 5.24 million units. This is the highest rate since August 2007 and a monthly gain of 7.2% over the previous month. The monthly sales gain was the largest on record for the total existing-home sales since 1999. The United States Department of Commerce Department has reported new housing starts for single-family homes have been up for five consecutive months. I attended a real estate conference in July out in Denver, Colorado. One of the hot topics of the session was whether the federal government would extend the first time home buyers credit and possibly increase the dollar amount. According to the National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun, “The housing market has decisively turned for the better. A combination of first-time buyers taking advantage of the housing stimulus tax credit and greatly improved affordability conditions are contributing to higher sales,” he said. So as things look up nationally, how are things locally?

Here are the July numbers for Prince William County:
New Listings 963
Closed Sales 710
Pending Sales 980
Median Sales Price $213,000
Percent of Original List Price Received at Sale 98.6%
Average Days On Market 59

Source: MRIS