03/18/2025
There has been a lot of recent press and talk about how the government layoffs and cuts in general will or are affecting the housing market. Many if not most of what has been written and said is partially if not totally false.
The truth is that the dust has yet to settle and the true impact, if any, won't be felt for some time. Until such time, the only thing anyone can say with certainty is what has and is currently happening backed by factual, up to date data.
That data can be found via a few sources with the regional MLS, BrightMLS being the most accurate and up to date source for housing market data in the mid-Atlantic region, which it serves and operates within.
Due to all the false information out there, BrightMLS decided to make it easier to set the record straight by publishing a weekly market report with the latest data and trends regarding the local housing market.
This report comes out every Tuesday and covers the previous week with the most recent report coming out this morning. If you would like a free copy of the report, send me a message.
The report and the data confirm what is being felt by those actively involved in the market (agents with active clients and homes under contract, active home buyers and home sellers with their home under contract or sold in the past 45 days or so).
To sum up what is actually happening in the NoVA housing market,
- No, the proverbial sky is not falling.
- Yes, inventory is rising. But it usually does this time of year due to seasonality and we are still far below normal inventory levels and still need more inventory to offset the amount of buyer demand in the current local market.
- Yes, buyer demand is increasing due to both seasonality and mortgage rates having dropped down to some of the lowest levels in months.
- Yes, some people have lost their jobs or worried about losing their jobs. Have any of them decided to sell their home because they lost their job? None of my personal clients have/are. And none of the agents I've spoken with about this have a seller client who is selling because they lost their job.
- On the flip side, there are folks who are scrambling to move back and buy a home in this area because of the RTO (Return To Office) mandate. Several of the agents I've spoken with about this, as well as I, have at least one client who is in this situation.
- Yes, places like Florida have a housing market that has already seen values decrease substantially. But we're not Florida and our market is healthy and strong up to and at this moment.
- Real estate is local. Though some things such as mortgage rates and the general US economy help drive the housing market in general, each local and hyper-local housing market is its own living and breathing entity that has its own characteristics and personality.
- The main two driving factors for real estate are supply and demand (mortgage rates directly affect demand). Inventory in the DMV is still well below normal levels and not enough to cover the current buyer demand.
- The current market is seeing multiple offers and price escalations on a pretty significant amount of homes in NoVA and the DMV in general.
- Can this change? Yes, of course it can and most likely will. As the saying goes, the only constant is change. And that holds true in real estate. There are major cycles in real estate and smaller cycles within those.
Feel free to reach out anytime with questions about the general market, your hyper-local market, your home's market value or anything else real estate related. I'm happy to chat and answer your questions anytime.
Over 45 years living in NoVA. More than 20 years as a REALTOR® in NoVA. Over 400 homes and $235M sold with a 4.9/5 star rating based on 300+ client reviews.
