There is no question that housing is one of the soundest investments you can make,” said VAR President Tom Jewell of Leesburg. “We look for this year to continue to be strong, moving from a sellers' market to a more balanced marketplace toward the latter part of the year. Pricing a home correctly for sale continues to be the most important aspect of selling, and for that, you need to help of a professional. And with the relative scarcity of homes on the market, a buyer's agent can help search out the right home at the right price.”

Year to date, 20,212 homes have been placed on the market, nearly 6% more last year's 18,897. In February, 7,739 closings were reported, an 8.80% increase over last year's 7,113. Year to date, 15,558 transactions have closed, compared to 14,187 for 2004, a 9.66% increase.

The average time for homes on the market was 97 days, and the median sales price was $146,750, up 9% over last year's $134,238. Nationally, the median single-family home price was $188,200 in February, up 9.4 percent from a year earlier. The median is the midpoint, which is a typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less. The average price of a single-family home in Virginia in January was $238,906, up 25% over last year's average of $190,768.

Of the 22 areas of the state reporting, all but five reported increases in closed contracts for the month, with the largest increases seen in Charlottesville, Chesapeake Bay & Rivers, the Northern Neck, and Williamsburg.

With over 31,000 members, the Virginia Association of REALTORS® is the state's largest individual membership trade association. REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark which may only be used by those real estate professionals who subscribe to the REALTOR® organization's strict Code of Ethics, and who are members of the National, State and Local REALTOR® organization.

Download February Sold Data for Virginia.(pdf)

Download February Pending Data for Virginia. (pdf)