While it’s not a buyer’s market yet, the Fredericksburg-area housing market continues to show indications of normalizing. August still posted very robust market numbers, but that is tempered by rising supply and slight reductions in future demand. Sold dollar volume was still up nearly 29%, coming in at approximately $362 million in August of 2021 compared to $281.3 million last year. The increase was fueled by a nearly 16% jump in units sold, with 755 homes changing hands in August of 2020 compared to 876 this August. Median price held steady from July at $390,000, representing a more than 11% year-over-year price increase from August 2020’s level of $350,000.
Many market indicators are not captured in the transaction details of a home sale. It was common during the most intense months of buyer demand to see waiving of home inspections and agreements to bring cash when appraisals came in low. Those practices seem to be ebbing with the slowing market. “While the market continues to be positive for sellers, I’m seeing more homes staying on the market longer and appraisals falling short,” states FAAR Board of Director Donna Schmidt. “I am noticing sellers offering concessions and home warranties, which is a plus. August is showing a little lull due to families focusing on school, but all in all it, has been a good month.”
Days on market, the time it takes from when a listing enters the market until it receives a ratified contract and is removed from active status on the multiple listing service, fell 48% with houses averaging just 12 days on the market in August 2021 compared to 23 days in August 2020.
There is good news on supply to report with active listings up nearly 40% from the scant offerings to be found last August. New listings coming on to the market yet again beat the five-year average and saw nearly 9% more listings than last August. Homebuyers had 910 homes to choose from at the end of this August compared to just 651 homes available last August. New pending contracts, which indicates the pace of transactions, were down nearly 4% indicating that demand might finally have cooled slightly, enabling active listings to recover in a small way. During the late summer of 2016, the market had a nearly 4-month supply of homes. The current market has consistently been running at about a 2-week supply of homes, meaning that the current demand would exhaust the available properties in just 14 days. We are now up to about a 5-week supply of homes, more than double the lowest point. The market is making progress, but it is still a strong seller’s market.
