Fairfax County and Philadelphia battled to a relative draw for real-estate supremacy for the Mid-Atlantic region in April, but that leaves the (supposed) City of Brotherly Love in a commanding lead as the first third of the year goes into the history books.
Philadelphia recorded 1,590 home sales in April compared to 1,523 for Fairfax County, according to data reported May 11 based on data provided by MarketStats by ShowingTime based on listing activity from Bright MLS and analyzed by the Sun Gazette.
That puts Philly’s year-to-date total at 6,002, up 1.3 percent from the same point last year, while Fairfax’s total of 4,749 was down 11.1 percent, largely due to inventory issues and the strong market of spring 2021.
Philadelphia traditionally has been the sales leader across the Mid-Atlantic region, but with 2020 turned higgledy-piggledy by COVID, Fairfax moved up that year from bridesmaid to bride. As a result, the year-end total for 2020 was 16,739 for Fairfax, 16,317 for Philadelphia – not a landslide, but a victory.
In 2021, however, Philadelphia’s rebound was in full swing. As a result, sales were 19,407 for Fairfax County but 19,904 the Philadelphia.
For the first four months of this year, five other jurisdictions across the Mid-Atlantic had cumulative sales of more than 3,000:
• Montgomery County, Md., at 3,835, down 9 percent from a year before.
• Baltimore City, Md., at 3,585, up 1.7 percent.
• Baltimore County, Md., at 3,397, down 1.7 percent.
• The District of Columbia, at 3,173, down 7.6 percent.
• Montgomery County, Pa., at 3,020, down 3.9 percent.
For the Mid-Atlantic as a whole, the sales total of 85,082 for the January-to-April period was 85,082, down 6.1 percent from a year before, largely due to a denuded inventory.