If you are a buyer you might be wondering if this market is crazy or what?! Are you hearing multiple offers?Escalations? And on and on and on? Well, the market is a little crazy, but not as crazy as you think and not everyone is getting multiple offers. If you want a “cream puff” property that is perfectly located with a decent layout and in a lower price range – yes – you will have to fight for it, but there are plenty of homes that are not selling the 1st weekend.
So what’s happening? Here are the Arlington real estate statistics for February, 2014.
Inventory – the number of houses that are available for sale – is low. The last 5 year average for active listings is 449, in February there were 377 active listings – that’s 16% less than average.
Number of homes that went under contract (current demand) is 184. Last 5 year average is 201 for Arlington. So that’s a little less than average – I wonder if it has something to do with the freezing cold winter we’ve been having.
The number of new listings is about the same as usual – about 254 (5 year average is 264).
So the law of supply and demand – supply is lower, demand is about the same – expect for the prices togo up!
From the 4 listings that I put on the market this year in Arlington – I did not have multiple offers on a single one of them. Yes – 1 of them did sell in 2 days above list price, but the buyers weren’t snoozing and waiting for the open house – they made an irresistible offer to my client. Others got great offers in a week or two.
The prices are definitely heading up and don’t expect to pay yesterday’s prices – especially in a hot spring market. If you are looking for a single family home under a million in North Arlington – you really need to roll up your sleeves. A lot of buyers are out trying to buy something before the interest rates go up. If you are a seller – this is a great time to sell.
I welcome your feedback on the market – I definitely am not out there selling every home in Arlington and might not know about a certain market segment that’s absolutely crazy – would love to hear about this.
Here are the statistics from out local MLS that I was referring to: