Inman

Virginia real estate market reports strong November

Virginia homes sales and prices posted double-digit increases in November from their year-ago levels, according to the Virginia Association of Realtors.

Realtors reported 10,974 transactions closed in November, up 26 percent compared to November 2003’s 8,709. Year-to-date, 124,603 transactions have closed, a 10 percent increase over the 112,365 closed sales during the same period last year.

The median price of a single-family home in Virginia was $163,750, up more than 15 percent from last year’s $141,738. The median is the midpoint, which is a typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

“Researchers at the National Association of Realtors project that economic conditions in 2005 will be comparable with this year,” said VAR President Tom Jewell. “So it seems very likely that in Virginia we’ll see a continuation of strong home sales, although down some from the pace we saw in 2004,” he said. “Mortgage interest rates should rise modestly over the course of this year, but stay low enough to maintain favorable market conditions,” he said.

The average market time for home sales was 92 days during the month, compared to 108 for the same period last year.

The Virginia Association of Realtors is one of the state’s largest individual membership trade association with more than 31,000 members.

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