2010 Opens to Signs of Gradual Market Stabilization,
With an Eye toward Local Market Sustainability
Washington Post reporter Renae Merle wrote about the tentative, incremental signs of local economic recovery in her wrap-up review article:
…”Reduced prices, low interest rates and a tax credit for first-time home buyers helped boost the market in 2009. The pickup in sales translated into a stabilization of prices in some parts of the country. In Northern Virginia, for example, median home prices bounced more than 11 percent in November compared with a year earlier. That could continue in 2010 as long as the economic rebound persists, economists said.”…
Editor’s Note: By the way, Northern Virginia’s median home sales price jumped 13.75 percent to $364,000 this past January compared to the 2009 January median price of $320,000. This data point is a good sign.
For the full article click here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/30/AR2009123003499.html
In a CNN Money online article about Wall Street this year, the issues of fundamentals emerge.
Weeks and Months Ahead Will Tell All
…"You've clearly got some negative sentiment and legitimate concerns," said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors. "But that doesn't mean the market should be down 10% and continue falling. If we are able to traverse the concerns, we can return the focus to fundamentals, which are starting to improve."
He pointed to the batch of better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and some of the recent reports that show the economy is continuing to stabilize, although the job market remains battered.
The challenge is going from an economic recovery that is largely stimulus driven to one that is driven by fundamentals, said Robert Siewert, portfolio manager at Glenmede.” …
http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/07/markets/sunday_lookahead/index.htm
The Federal Housing Administration Service,
Support the Stabilizing Housing Market
…”FHA officials say that the loans that are being originated this year will help the agency turn a profit and offset the need for any taxpayer subsidy to offset rising losses. Officials point to sharply improved average credit scores on loans originated over the past year, which ended the year at 694, up from 661 one year earlier.”…
For the full article: http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2010/02/09/fha-loan-defaults-surpass-9/
January 2010 Regional Home Sales
Northern Virginia: January 2010
The Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® reports on January 2010 home sales activity for Fairfax and Arlington counties, the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church and the towns of Vienna, Herndon and Clifton.
A total of 1,006 homes sold in January 2010, a less than one percent increase above January 2009 home sales of 998.
Active listings decreased by about 24 percent from last year, with 5,735 active listings in January, compared with 7,545 homes available in January 2009. The average days on market (DOM) for homes in January 2010 decreased by 38.38 percent to 61 days, compared with 99 days in January 2009.
Sales prices rose compared with those realized last year. The average sales price in January increased by about 16 percent from January 2009, to $437,027, compared with last January’s average of $376,669.
The median price of homes sold in Northern Virginia also rose in January to $364,000, which is an increase of 13.75 percent compared with January 2009’s median price of $320,000.
The number of pending home sales in Northern Virginia in January shows a slight increase of 2.52 percent at 1,589 compared to 1,550 contracts pending in January 2009.
Greater Northern Virginia: January 2010
Sales activity in Greater Northern Virginia (NVAR jurisdictions plus Prince William, Loudoun and the Greater Piedmont counties) for January 2010 also shows a decrease from January 2009, although average sales prices continue to rise.
The number of Greater Northern Virginia region homes sold in January was 1,835 a 13.93 percent decrease from January 2009’s total of 2,132 sales. Pending home sales also decreased, from 3,347 in January 2009 to 2,992 in January 2010, a 10.61 percent reduction.
The average sales price of $367,203 in January 2010 increased by about 21 percent over January 2009’s average sales price of $303,275.
Across Greater Northern Virginia, the number of listings continues to decrease, with 11,788 listings active, which is almost 23 percent less than this time last year, when 15,295 homes were available. The average DOM for a home sold in January 2010 was 60 compared with last year’s 105 DOM, a decrease of about 43 percent.