Pending home sales in the Washington area surged in June and this year's total is surpassing last year's -- even without a tax incentive, a new report shows.
That means that the region's housing market is finally returning to normal after a three-year roller coaster ride during the recession and its aftermath, experts said.
Across the region, new pending sales -- a home under contract and nearing its closing date -- increased nearly 30 percent on average in June compared with the same month last year, according to a report released Monday by real estate technology developer Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc.
| Pending home sales strong even without tax incentive | ||||||
| Market returning to normal patterns | ||||||
| June new | Change | YTD new | Change | June | Change | |
| pendings | June '10 | pendings | YTD '10 | sold | June '10 | |
| Washington | 739 | +22.1% | 4,100 | +8.4% | 663 | -13.9% |
| Alexandria | 238 | +47.8% | 1,268 | +14.0% | 213 | -9.0% |
| Arlington | 258 | +12.7% | 1,455 | -4.3% | 248 | -4.3% |
| Fairfax | 1,460 | +16.2% | 8,560 | +7.7% | 1,399 | -16.7% |
| Loudoun | 543 | +26.9% | 3,223 | +16.4% | 546 | -6.8% |
| Prince William | 753 | +28.3% | 4,325 | +14.8% | 559 | -28.7% |
| Montgomery | 1,119 | +22.7% | 6,584 | +9.0% | 1,042 | -21.5% |
| Prince George's | 1,253 | +66.8% | 7,178 | +46.4% | 783 | -20.4% |
| Source: MRIS/RealEstate Business Intelligence | ||||||
The pending sales activity was the highest for June in the Washington area since 2005.
"Every year after that we saw a lower level of activity until now," said Jonathan Miller, a housing market consultant and author of the report. "We're finally getting beyond that point."
He added that the number of house contracts so far this year has been the most stable since the recession hit in 2008.
"We are realigned with more historic patterns," Miller said. "And that in and of itself is encouraging. The level of activity is generally higher than it's been in three years."
June's increase in new pending sales ranged from 13 percent in Arlington County to 67 percent in Prince George's County compared with June 2010.
Miller said the surge is largely due to the drop-off in contract activity after the first-time homebuyers tax credit expired in April 2010. That anomaly also explains why the number of homes sold in June fell when compared with a year ago.
For the year, nearly every jurisdiction in the region is reporting a bump in homes that went under contract during the first half of 2011 compared with the first six months of 2010.
Prince George's in particular has been a hotbed of activity year with pending home sales totaling more than 7,000 -- a 46 percent increase over the first six months of 2010. Analysts say that's partly because that jurisdiction did not benefit as much as others from the first-time homebuyers tax credit.
But the county's lower prices are also drawing investors who are buying up foreclosed properties in cash deals, said Joanne Darling, president of the county Realtors' association. Many of the county's houses sell for less than $200,000, while prices in neighboring Montgomery County and the District hover around $400,000.
"It always helps us out the more expensive the surrounding areas get," she said.
