Recent Trends in the Real Estate Market

Recent Real Estate Market Trends

In August 2008, the slow down continued in the D.C. metro area real estate market. The number of properties sold decreased last month in most counties. The average days to sell properties increased slightly last month, while the absorption rate, and average sale prices remained the same as the previous month.
Absorption Rate - 1.4 out of every 10 homes for sale sold last month
	The average absorption rate remained the same in August, changing slightly from 13.59% in July to 13.55% in August. Surprisingly, the absorption rate has remained between 14% and 13%, over past five months. This is a trend that has not been seen in the past three years. This may be an early indication that the real estate market is returning to a balanced market, but we still have a ways to go. The entire D.C metro area is still in a strong buyer's market that will most likely continue the rest the year. The absorption rate must reach 25% to be declared a balanced real estate market.
Days on Market - The homes that sold last month were on the market for 97 days
	The average time to sell a home increased slightly to 97 days (3.2% jump) in August. It still takes over 3 months to sell a property in the current market. The average number of days to sell a property remained about the same in all counties track last month.
Sales Price - The average home sold for $6,921 less last month
	The average sales prices in the region decreased slightly (1.5%) last month. Montgomery county ($510,994; 3.8% drop) Fairfax county ($456,727; 2.4% drop) Arlington county ($581,477; 3.6% jump) Washington D.C. ($557,079; 4% drop) Baltimore County ($306,773; .3% drop) Price Georges county ($297,410; 2% drop) I expect to see property values decrease steadily for the remaining months of the year.
Number of Sales - The average number of home sales decreased last month
	The number of sales decreased 2.3% in August. I expect to see a steady decrease in the number of sales for the remaining months of the year. All counties experienced decreases in the number of sales last month, except Prince Geores, Arlington county, and Baltimore county where the number of sales slightly increased.

By: Adam Iobst

A-Team Home Sales

For Additional Information See Our Trend Reports.