Last year, March sales were roaring
because of the First Time Homebuyer’s Tax Credit, so it isn’t surprising that
the dollar volume of sales this March actually declined 3% from last year at
this time. Properties stayed on the market 31% longer than last year at this
time, again because last spring’s market was fueled by the tax credit.
Those of us involved in the real
estate market anticipated that this March would show a great improvement over
February, and indeed it did, with a 53% increase in dollar volume of sales.
While April 2011 should be even better than this past month, it will be hard to
meet the landslide of sales we saw last April with buyers rushing to purchase
before the April 30th tax credit deadline. The good news is that the average
price of property, which is the last thing to improve in a market recovery, has
gone up 11 out the past 12 months, with a whopping 10%increase this month over
March 2010.
*Statistics are taken from the Metropolitan
Regional Information System for three areas: Washington, D.C.; Montgomery
County, Maryland; and Fairfax County, Arlington, Alexandria and Falls Church in
Northern Virginia. .
