March 2008 Housing Stats - Mixed Market Throughout Loudoun County Va

The Loudoun County housing market overall was mixed for the month of March. Overall, Loudoun County did see an increase in the number of homes sold since last month, which is definitely a positive. The market is still trying to recover from the credit crisis which definitely affected housing sales in August and September of 2007. Another drop in the market occurred in December of 2007. The average sales price continues to decrease as we head full swing into the spring market. Unless the number of homes selling each month increases, the odds of home sale prices stabilizing is probably not realistic.

The number of homes sold in the 20165 zip code of Sterling/Potomac Falls dropped slightly from February. Detached homes are averaging about 10 homes selling per month with 103 active listings which equals about 10 months of inventory. The average sales price for detached homes remained about the same. However, unless more homes start selling, I am concerned that the average sales price could decline in the upcoming months. The MLS data goes back to 1996 and indicated that the number of detached homes selling monthly hasn't been this low since the early 1990's. The townhouse market is fairing a little better and outselling detached homes. So far this year, the average number of townhouses selling is 15 townhomes per month and there are 100 current active listings which equals about 6.6 months of inventory.

 

The townhouse market in the 20147 zip code of Ashburn is getting exciting! The number of townhouses selling per month has been climbing since the bottom in December of 2007 with only 15 homes selling that month. In March, 2008, 36 townhomes sold as of 4/3/08. I would imagine a few more might trickle in as agents enter in sales for the last days of the month. It will be interesting to watch to see if the number of townhomes sold crosses the average sale price line. The average sale price for Ashburn townhouses has decreased much more aggressively than Sterling townhomes which might be the reason the sales activity has been higher. The Ashburn detached home market also improved over February's numbers for both units sold and average sales price.

 

 

Good news for the detached home market in the 20176 zip code of Leesburg if it can maintain the momentum. Detached home sales in this zip code are up 46% from February, 2008 to 28 homes sold in March. This is the most detached homes in this region to sell in one month since the credit crisis in August/September 2007. It will be interesting to see what happens in April. The average sales price for detached homes has been all over the place so not really any stability there. The beast of Leesburg is the inventory. There are 231 detached homes currently active and if 28 homes per month were to continue to sell than the inventory is only at 8.25 months. Unfortunately, the average number of detached homes to sell this year is 17 homes per month which means that there are 13.5 months of inventory. The townhouse market appears to continue it's decline. Both the number of townhomes sold as well as the average sales price dropped a little in March, 2008 from the prior month.