Home sales for the first 11 months of 2021 in Northern Virginia’s five major jurisdictions are running well above the same period in 2020, according to new data, as the market returns to a post-COVID (or at least COVID-accepting) world.
A total of 40,606 properties went to closing from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30 in Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun and Arlington counties and the city of Alexandria, according to data from MarketStats by Showing Time and Bright MLS, as analyzed by the Sun Gazette.
That’s up 16.1 percent from the 34,950 transactions of a year before.
The homes market in 2020 was turned inside out and upside down by COVID, which for several months (March through May) impacted sales significantly only to see the market stage a rebound through the rest of the year that continued largely unabated through 2021.
In recent months, the market across Northern Virginia has seemed to regain its traditional cyclical norms, with more oomph in spring and summer and (slight) cooling in autumn and winter.
Among the five localities tracked by the Sun Gazette, Arlington had the biggest year-over-year gain in sales, rising 29.2 percent to 3,243.
Arlington had seen a somewhat more precipitous decline last year due to COVID, in part due to messaging of the local government and in part due to concerns from buyers about investing a bundle in upscale condominiums given lingering health concerns about communal living.
All other jurisdictions posted double-digit increases, though not as large as Arlington’s uptick:
• Sales in Fairfax County totaled 17,994, up 17.6 percent.
• Transactions in Prince William County stood at 8,498, up 11.9 percent.
• Sales in Loudoun County totaled 7,945, up 12.4 percent.
• Transactions in Alexandria topped out at 2,926, up 18.4 percent.
Figures represent most, but not all, homes on the market. Year-to-date 2021 figures are preliminary and subject to revision.