They’re Back: Home Mortgage Applicants Return to DC Area
They remained quiet for most of 2006 - but home mortgage borrowers are starting to creep back into Greater Washington’s housing market as the new year gets underway.
Although purchases were still down in some jurisdictions in January, sales volume rose in the District, Montgomery County and a large chunk of Northern Virginia that includes Arlington and Fairfax counties. Washington, DC home prices remained flat or declined slightly in most parts of the region, while prices rose in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.
Continued low mortgage interest rates also are getting more buyers into the game, says Jill Landsman, spokeswoman for the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors. The association’s territory covers Arlington and Fairfax counties and the cities of Alexandria, Falls Church and Fairfax; sales volume jumped more than 10 percent in January in that sector.
“A lot of people who wanted to sell their house last year had expectations that they could get prices from 2004 or 2005,” Landsman says. “That’s just not realistic right now, and as a result you’re seeing more give and take. The other advantage to buying in January is that it’s a slow time. You can get a better price.”
Nationally, home sales and/or demand for mortgage loans appeared to hit the bottom of their lull in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to a recent forecast by the National Association of Realtors.
In 2006, 6.48 million existing single-family homes were sold, the third-highest total in history. The association’s forecast says about 6.44 million existing single-family homes will be sold this year, and 6.64 million existing homes will be sold in 2008.
Many economists and real estate market watchers say that the DC housing market will bounce back sooner than the rest of the nation’s, due mostly to the region’s strong economy and continued job growth.
Greater Washington added 71,200 jobs in 2006, and the region’s labor force is expected to add another 261,900 jobs from 2007 to 2011, according to the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University.