Million Dollar Question - Has the market stabilized?
I wish I could give a straight answer (an Yes or a No). The real estate activity at this time definitely suggests that the worst is behind us (in Northern Virginia). There are a lot of buyers in the market and on the other hand, less number of listings. This situation puts the buyer at a disadvantage. However, the coming few months are the typical slow winter months and some buyers are waiting to see if the market cools off a little bit so that they can jump in without having to be part of the current frenzy. Yes..I used the word “frenzy”. What else can I say when an offer I wrote was rejected because the listing agent received 27 offers. While 27 is on the high side and can be considered an exception, several properties are receiving multiple offers today. The less number of listings combined with the “still low” interest rates are causing these multiple offers and escalations. I haven’t done an escalation in about 3 years and in the past month, had to put an escalation on almost every offer I wrote.
The new home builders in the area are also with the mindset where they think things can’t get any worse and in the past few months, they have actually either increased their prices or reduced their incentives/options. If they can sustain the winter, one cannot stop them next spring.
