Hey Britt, How's The Market?

If you or anyone you know is looking to buy a house, I am willing to bet you have heard the words, “there is just nothing on the market right now,” and unfortunately, it's true.It seems that all we have seen over the last few months are climbing sales prices and fewer listings…but why? There are a few contributing factors to our market's low inventory. First and foremost, Amazon HQ2. Sellers are holding off on putting their homes on the market, thinking the longer they wait, the more money they will get, and buyers are trying to buy up anything they can, knowing it is a safe market to invest. Take the hot market in combination with historically low interest rates, and you have a perfect opportunity for buyers. Unfortunately, everyone is thinking the same thing and the little inventory that we do have is getting snatched up in multi-offer situations causing prices to escalate higher than list price.The average sales price in Alexandria City in Q2 was $598,694 a 3.1% increase from Q2-2018. In Arlington, the average sales price was $723,821, an increase of 7.9% compared to Q2-2018. In both areas, number of homes for sale is down over 57%! This extremely low inventory and high demand is continuing to drive prices higher and higher.  In July 46% of homes in Arlington that sold went for more than list price and in Alexandria 36% sold for more than list price. More than half the homes for sale in both Arlington and Alexandria went off the market in two weeks or less. In a new report, Redfin recently named Arlington and Alexandria the two most competitive housing markets in the country.Alexandria City’s Regional Housing Initiative recently published their long-range planning initiative research and found that:

• • Housing production is below long-term averages
• • Forecasted housing growth is not enough to supply the workers for forecasted jobs
• • Home prices are continuing to outpace incomes

 Regional housing production is only 2/3 of pre-recession levels Housing for anticipated job growth  Job growth expected to outpace housing supply for workers So, what does this mean for us? Are we all going to be stuck in our home forever because we won’t be able to afford these new sky-high prices? We are hoping the market will settle down as the race to beat the HQ2 rush begins to sizzle out. Alexandria also already has a plan in place that allows for sufficient housing to be built, however, the production rate needs to increase to meet the rising demand. We will continue to monitor the market and construction plans as Alexandria and Arlington react to a large workforce wave and hot real estate climate!