The average sales price of single-family home across Arlington in August nudged right up to the $1.4 million mark, according to new data, while the townhouse and condominium sectors also posted healthy year-over-year increases in part due to a dearth of inventory.
But that same lack of options was equally the cause of total sales running well below 2022 figures.
A total of 192 properties went to closing during the month, off 18.6 percent from the 236 transactions recorded a year before. That’s according to figures reported by MarketStats by ShowingTime based on listing activity from Bright MLS.
But prices kept on chugging along, with the average sales price of $874,332 up 13.6 percent owing in part to a larger percentage of single-family homes in the overall mix for the month.
Even so, increases were reported in all three segments of the market:
• The average sales price of single-family properties was up 8.7 percent to $1,396,223.
• The average sales price of attached homes (townhouses, rowhouses and condominiums) rose 7.8 percent to $565,545.
• The average sales price in the condominium-only sector was up 9.6 percent to $504,385.
A total of 58 properties went to closing for more than $1 million, including six for more than $2.5 million.
Add it all up, and total sales volume for the month stood at $166.7 million, down 8.9 percent.
Homes that went to closing spent an average of 22 days on the market, down from 23 a year before, and garnered 99.5 percent of listing price, up from 97.7 percent.
Conventional mortgages represented the financing in 114 transactions, followed by cash (52) and VA-backed loans (17).
The inventory crunch remains, although it has been worse. The 285 listings on the market at the end of August represented a decline of about 24 percent from a year before.
That lack of inventory is holding back total sales; the number of pending sales in August was off 19 percent from a year before.
“Finding a home to buy remained challenging in August, with limited options and higher prices, but we are seeing positive signs, including a less drastic drop in home sales,” said Northern Virginia Association of Realtors’ board member Stacy Holscher of Redfin.
Across Northern Virginia as a whole (Arlington and Fairfax counties and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church), trajectories were similar to the Arlington results, according to the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors:
• The number of closed sales in August 2023 was 1,535 units, down 12.4 percent from a year before.
• The average sold price of $831,968 was up 15.8 percent.
• The number of active listings for the month was 1,492, down 30.7 percent, and the total pending sales of 1,304 represented a decline of 16.7 percent from a year before.
• Total sales volume was just over $1.27 billion, up a fraction of a percent from a year before.
Figures represent most, but not all, homes on the market. All August 2023 figures are preliminary and are subject to revision.
