Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Prince William County Real Estate Market Update for January 24th 2011

Let’s take a look at the real estate market in Prince William County. Currently there are 1102 sales pending in the market overall, leaving 1561 listings still for sale. The resulting pending ratio is 41.4% (1,102 divided by 2,663). So you might be asking yourself, that's great... but what exactly does it mean? I'm glad you asked!




Typically, a pending ratio indicates the supply and demand of the market. Specifically, a high ratio means that listings are in demand and quickly going to contract. Alternatively, a low ratio means there are not enough qualified buyers for the existing supply.



Taking a closer look, we notice that the $150K - $200K price range has a relatively large number of contracts pending sale. We also notice that the $0K - $50K price range has a relatively large inventory of properties for sale at 241 listings. The average list price (or asking price) for all properties in this market is $324,374.



A total of 2699 contracts have closed in the last 6 months with an average sold price of $287,241. Breaking it down, we notice that the $200K -$250K price range contains the highest number of sold listings. Alternatively, a total of 298 listings have expired in that same period of time. Listings may expire for many reasons such as being priced too high, having been inadequately marketed, the property was in poor condition, or perhaps the owner had second thoughts about selling at this particular time. The $150K - $200K price range has the highest number of expired listings at 43 properties.





You might be wondering why average days on market (DOM) is important.

This is a useful measurement because it can help us to determine whether we are in a buyer's market (indicated by high DOM), or a seller's market (indicated by low DOM). Active listings, or properties for sale, have been on the market for an average of 120 days.



Analysis of sold properties for the last six months reveals an average sold price of $287,241 and 46 days on market. Notice that properties in the $50K - $100K price range have sold quickest over the last six months. The average sold price for the last 30 days was $266,006 with an average DOM of 52 days.



Since the recent DOM is greater than the average DOM for the last 6 months, it is a negative indicator for demand. It is always important to realize that real estate markets can fluctuate due to many factors, including shifting interest rates, the economy, or seasonal changes.



''The average list-to-sales ratio for Prince William County is 98.9%.''



Ratios are simple ways to express the difference between two values such as list price and sold price. In our case, we typically use the list-to-sale ratio to determine the percentage of the final list price that the buyer ultimately paid. It is a very common method to help buyers decide how much to offer on a property.



Analysis of the absorption rate indicates an inventory of 3.5 months based on the last 6 months of sales. This estimate is often used to determine how long it would take to sell off the current inventory of listings if all conditions remained the same. It is significant to mention that this estimate does not take into consideration any additional properties that will come on the market in the future.



Prince William county is located in Northern Virginia. The estimated population for 2009 was around 400,000 people. According to the Census Bureau Prince William County has 348 Square miles. Main area/cites of Prince William County are Manassas, Manassas Park, Woodbridge, Gainesville, Haymarket, Bristow, and Dale City.

To search homes for sale in Prince William County visit www.PrinceWilliamCountyHomeFinder.com



Chris Colgan

Re/max Regency

www.ChrisColgan.com

703-485-1435

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