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Fairfax, Va. – “Defying expectations, the 2020 housing market in Northern Virginia was a powerful driver of the region’s economy,” says Derrick Swaak, partner and managing broker with TTR Sotheby’s International Realty in McLean, Va. and 2021 president of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® (NVAR).
“Even with the downturn we experienced in the beginning weeks of the pandemic, the NVAR region housing market had an incredibly strong year,” says Swaak. “We closed 2020 with a dollar sales volume that was 13% higher than last year, with $15.3 billion sold, compared with around $13 billion in 2019,” Swaak says.
Historically low interest rates helped to fuel the 2020 seller’s market, driving prices up throughout the region as buyers competed for available listings. The 2020 average home price in the NVAR footprint, which covers Fairfax and Arlington counties, the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church, was $670,408, up 9% above the 2019 average. The 2020 median sales price also rose by 9%, from $541,000 in 2019 to $590,000.
The total number of homes sold by Northern Virginia Realtors® in 2020, 22,840, was about 4% higher than the 2019 total of 22,030. And those homes sold quickly, with the average number of days on market reduced by about 21% -- from 24 days to 19 days.
“Notwithstanding the uncertainty we experienced in 2020, our members rallied to help people in Northern Virginia safely buy and sell homes,” says NVAR CEO Ryan McLaughlin. “Not only did Realtors® represent their clients under difficult circumstances, but also lobbied on behalf of home buyers and sellers to ensure that their critical transactions could be completed,” McLaughlin says.
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