Home sales across Arlington during the first quarter of 2023 were lower than at the same period in each of the preceding four years, as higher interest rates and affordability issues take their toll.
A total of 441 properties went to closing across the county during the first three months of the year, according to a GazetteLeader analysis of data by MarketStats by ShowingTime based on listing activity from Bright MLS. By month: 105 in January, 139 in February and 197 in March.
While down substantially from the 665 sales during the same period in 2022 and 687 in 2021, those comparisons are probably less helpful in divining the overall health of the market than going back to pre-COVID days would be.
For the first quarter of 2020, home sales for the quarter stood at 517, while for the first quarter of 2019, they were 530.
(While COVID arrived in the local area in mid-March of 2020, it was unlikely to have impacted the sales total for the quarter, since homes going to closing in March had seen contracts written in January and February.)
The local market continues to battle headwinds on a number of fronts:
• Many sellers are content to sit on low-interest-rate mortgages, keeping inventory from growing too significantly and, as a result, propping up price levels.
• Those high (and in many cases growing) average prices are hampering the ability of buyers to find and finance homes, particularly with increases in interest rates compared to a year before.
Figures represent most, but not all, homes on the market. All March 2023 figures are preliminary and are subject to revision.
