Prospective home-buyers across the local area are finding themselves facing a dearth of inventory as the winter season has yet to segue into springtime.
February data from the T3 Home-Demand Index of Bright MLS show a limited supply of properties across most of the GazetteLeader’s coverage area in Fairfax County, even though inventory has increased owing to buyers taking more time to take their selections.
The T3 Home Demand Index uses a variety of data points to settle on a monthly score for buyer interest all the way down to the ZIP-code level. It is a forward-looking counterpart to rear-view-mirror monthly sales data.
The open-ended scorecard gauges buyer-interest conditions as High with any score above 130; Moderate from 110-129; Steady from 90-109; and Slow from 70-89. Any score less than 70 suggests the market of available homes is limited.
And that’s where all the GazetteLeader’s Fairfax communities stood in new data.
Scores for February were 64 both for the 22180 ZIP code (Vienna area) and 22102 (McLean); 55 for 22181 (Vienna); 42 for 22124 (Oakton); 41 for 22101 (McLean); 35 for 22182 (Vienna); 25 for 22066 (Great Falls); and 24 for 22027 (Dunn Loring).
For Faifax County in its entirety, the average February score of 73 (in the Slow category) was up from a month before but down from a year ago.
Across the Washington metro area, the overall February score of 71 was up from 56 a month before, although down from a year ago.
The highest jump in demand month-over-month was in the high-end category for both single-family homes and condominiums, where buyers seemed to be getting a jump on the spring market.
For the complete report, see the Website at getsmartcharts.com.
