If you own or plan on purchasing a home in Northern Virginia, this may give you some insight into the local real estate market.
We’re in the 3rd official week watching the COVID-19 impact on the Northern Virginia real estate market. The numbers are still showing a negative impact on the leading indicators and pointing to signs that the market is slowing down.
For the second week in a row, we are really starting to see the impact of COVID-19 in our Northern Virginia Real Estate market update. All of the leading indicators point to a slow down in the market.
- New Listing numbers are down.
- Pending home sales are down.
- Withdrawn listings are up once again.
Week 14
The number of new listings in Week 14 of 2020, when compared to the same week in 2019, is down 32.9%. That means fewer homeowners are listing their homes on the market.
There also appears to be fewer buyers in the market as we saw a 35.9% drop in the number of pending listings year over year.
How slow will the market become is anyone’s guess. With New Listings and Pending Contracts showing a decline for the second week in the row, it’s not looking good for sellers who planned to get the most amount of money possible out of their homes this spring.
The last number, which we saw the most significant change in, is withdrawn listings. A listing is withdrawn when a homeowner decides to remove their home from the real estate market without selling it. The number of withdrawn listings is up for the second consecutive week, as homeowners with or without the assistance of their real estate agents, continue to remove their homes from the market.
In Week 14 of 2019, there were just 2 withdrawn listings. This year there were 111 withdrawn listings in the same week. Is this in response to the shelter in place order, practicing social distancing, or were these individuals impacted by the market is anyone’s guess at this time?
What does all this mean?
Week over week, we are beginning to see the same negative decline. Each week we are seeing fewer new listings and pending and an increase in withdrawn listings. That means fewer buyers in the market and also fewer sellers.
For sellers, this means there are fewer buyers looking to buy a home like theirs. On the flip side, there is also less completion. Buyers that want to buy now must choose from the available options. We don’t expect to see prices decrease just yet.
For buyers, in the recent past, we’ve seen more bidding wars and multiple offer scenarios. As we see the number of pending sales continues to decrease we should also see fewer multiple offer situations and escalation clauses. So in essence, their less competition for buyers as well.
Final Thoughts
What does the data tell you about the market? Post your thoughts and takeaways in the comment section. If you’re thinking about buying or selling and need guidance give me a call at 703-539-2053 or email me to set up a consultation.
About the Author
The above article was written by Abraham Walker, Your Northern Virginia Real Estate Agent, helping clients market their homes to achieve high sales with a quick closing time is my main priority. He’s the co-founder of Ask A Walker and can be found on YouTube, Facebook, and HERE on this blog.
Data Source: Bright MLS Statistics calculated on April 9, 2020
