4th Quarter Virginia Home Sales Report
from the Virginia Association of REALTORS^®

Virginia’s housing markets continue to show marked improvement, as fourth quarter 2009 home sales in Virginia showed an 18 percent increase over the same period last year, according to the year-end and fourth quarter 2009 home sales report released today by the Virginia Association of REALTORS®.

"Now truly is the time to buy,” commented VAR President Cindy Stackhouse of Dumfries, VA. “Mortgage rates won’t stay this low forever, the tax credit for first-time and trade-up buyers ends this spring, and inventory is dropping. We do expect to see another surge in the spring as more home buyers take advantage of affordable housing conditions before the tax credit expires.”

Highlights

Compared to the third quarter, the fourth quarter’s total existing home sales in Virginia declined 12.4 percent to 21,936 units but improved over the fourth quarter of 2008 by 18.1 percent. In fact, six of the seven regions of the state reported an increase in sales compared to 4Q 08.

Posting the third consecutive quarterly increase, the statewide median sales price advanced 4.2 percent over 3Q 09, although it declined 8.5 percent compared to 4Q 08. The statewide median sales price is up about $23,000 since 1Q 09.

Total sales in the Central Virginia Region during the fourth quarter of 2009 declined 12.7 percent compared to the third quarter but improved 37.6 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2008.

The median sales price in the Central Region decreased slightly (-1.7 percent) for the second consecutive quarter to end the year 7.8 percent below the median in the fourth quarter of 2008.

*Details on local statistics and the full report are at VARealtor.com/homesales.