The Front Line

Okay folks, things are not as bad as the press is making them out to be, in the Centreville market anyhow. The number of available single family homes is at it's lowest point since January of 07! The number of single family homes sold in September (and August for that matter) are double what they were last year. All year long they have been very consistent with the 06 and 07 so I expect that to continue. The town home market is doing even better than I think that has helped in the single family homes numbers noticeably. The total number of available townhomes for sale has decreased for the 5th straight month and is almost half of what we had available September 07. In September the total number of townhomes that came under contract is more than DOUBLE what we sold last September. All year long our sales have surpassed last year's. the number of homes in Centreville that are in foreclosure or short sale status is down from the 1st quarter of the year in almost every category and has remained consistent of the past few months. This is important in that finally some of the non-bank owned homes are able to sell and those folks can move up with in the community. When a bank home sells it simply takes a home off of the banks books, when an owner occupied home sells it creates other transactions up the line as they buy another home and then that person can buy another home, etc., etc. Certainly consumer confidence is an issue but once people realize that the national numbers are far worse than our local numbers. You will see that confidence return. By the time the media is willing to report that home prices are rising the trend in this area will have been on the upswing for months!! That's why we call this column "Front Lines", because we are on the front lines of the local real estate and we will keep you informed with what is happening today.