<p style=”text-align: justify;”><span style=”font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;”>Market conditions for home sellers in Northern Virginia continued to improve in May 2017. Strong buyer demand appeared to be driving all market fundamentals in favor of home sellers. The average number of days on the market was down from 36 days in April to 32 days in May, which is below the 5-year May average of 33 days. Most homes were on the market less than three weeks. </span></p>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”><span style=”font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;”>Closed sales in May increased 26.6% from April, and the median home sales price increased almost 3% to $530,000. New pending sales increased 7.5% from April, and the number of new listings increased 2.5% from April to May. Although increasing interest rates during the remainder of 2017 could slow the market, there are no signs of that yet. Specific neighborhood market dynamics, however, vary by city throughout Northern Virginia.</span></p>
<h2><span style=”color: #000000;”>City of Alexandria</span></h2>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”><span style=”font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;”>The average sale price in the city of Alexandria topped $530,000 in May 2017, a 4% drop over April, and a 6.8% drop over May of last year. Although this may appear like a trend, there are other signs that <strong>the market conditions will remain tight throughout the summer</strong>. The number of closed sales increased 13.8% from April to May. New pending sales increased over 10% from April, and new listings increased 4.1% from April to May. </span></p>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”><span style=”font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;”>As a result, total active listings on the market in May declined by about 3% to 449, which is a nearly 11% drop from May 2016, and about 8% below the five-year average of 490. In addition, the average number of days on the market for a listing in the City of Alexandria fell 20% to just 28 days, which is the lowest May average of the previous 5 years.</span></p>
<h2><span style=”color: #000000;”>Arlington County</span></h2>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”><span style=”font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;”>In May 2017, Arlington County had a dramatic increase in the number of closed sales, which increased by 42.8% from April to May. New listings and new pending sales (properties that went under contract), however, were down by 3.7% and 1.7% respectively. Over the last two years, the average home sales price peaked for the year during the early summer months. </span></p>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”><span style=”font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;”>If that trend continues, <strong>prices should remain around their current levels or perhaps see a bit of an increase</strong>. The average home sales price in May was $686,000. Active listings increased slightly (2%) in May, and the average home stayed on the market for around 35 days in Arlington County, which is about the same as April and similar to the 5-year May average.</span></p>
<h2><span style=”color: #000000;”>City of Fairfax</span></h2>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”><span style=”font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;”>Although housing market conditions in Fairfax City appeared weaker than the rest of Northern Virginia during April, the market showed signs of improvement in May. The number of closed sales increased 31.3% from April to May, and pending sales increased 15% in May. The average home sales price increased nearly 1% to $521,193. <strong>With a low supply of homes for sale in the City of Fairfax, however, it looks like the market will continue to tighten for buyers in the next month</strong>. </span></p>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”><span style=”font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;”>The number of new listings decreased by almost 25% in May, and the number of active listings on the market in May was 22% below that of April, and about 10% below the five-year May average. As a result, homes in Fairfax City were only on the market an average of 25 days in May – the lowest May average in 5 years, and over half of the sold homes were actually on the market fewer than 10 days.</span></p>
<h2><span style=”color: #000000;”>City of Falls Church</span></h2>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=”font-size: 12pt;”>The small number of homes listed for sale in the City of Falls Church can create the appearance of volatile monthly market changes. For example, the number of closed </span>sales<span style=”font-size: 12pt;”> increased over 81% from April to May because 13 additional home sales closed in the month of May. May 2017 saw 27 active listings in the City of Falls Church. </span></span></p>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”><span style=”color: #000000;”><span style=”font-size: 12pt;”>As a result, <strong>home sellers have a lot of bargaining power in the market</strong>. The average home sales price increased 4.4% over April to $887,436, and sellers received an average of 99.1% of the list price </span>for<span style=”font-size: 12pt;”> those homes. Although over half of the homes sold in under 20 days, the overall average number of days on the market increased from 9 days in April to 44 days in May.</span></span></p>
<h2><span style=”color: #000000;”>Fairfax County</span></h2>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”><span style=”font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;”>Since Fairfax County home sales make up a majority of the home sales in the Northern Virginia region, the trends in Fairfax County are representative of the overall regional trends. The number of closed sales in Fairfax County increased by over 25% in May, and both pending sales and new listings increased from April to May. The median home sales price increased 3.8% in Fairfax County to $524,000. </span></p>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”><span style=”font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;”>The <strong>median home sales price reached its highest value of the past two years</strong> in Fairfax County. The average home was on the market for 32 days, which is the five-year average for Fairfax County. The market for detached homes of all sizes experienced the greatest price gains over the past year.</span></p>
<h2><span style=”color: #000000;”>Loudoun County</span></h2>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”><span style=”font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;”>The housing market in <strong>Loudoun County continued to strengthen in May</strong>. The number of closed sales increased by 7.9%, and the number of pending sales increased by 8.9%. The number of new listings increased by 7.7% in May, but the number of active listings in May remained below the five-year average. </span></p>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”><span style=”font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;”>As a result, the number of days on the market continued to decline to an average of 30 days in May, the lowest May average in 5 years. Half of those sold homes, however, were on the market for less than 10 days. The median sales price continued to increase to $475,000, which, with the exception of December 2016, is the highest median sales price in 5 years.</span></p>
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