Realtors see housing rebound

Third quarter figures from the Virginia Association of Realtors would suggest the market is on the upswing, as home sales statewide jumped by more than five percent since last quarter.

"There seems to be no doubt now that we have hit the bottom and are moving back up, in terms of both price and sales activity," said John Powell, president of VAR, in a written statement. "We are now in our third consecutive quarter of marked improvement."

That's for the entire commonwealth. A narrower look at Prince William shows the county still lagging in some aspects of market activity.

In the July-August-September period of 2008, the number of houses sold in Prince William hit 3,128, according to VAR statistics. For the same three-month span in 2009, that number was 2,228. That's a drop in sales of nearly 29 percent.

Still, housing prices climbed a bit during this same time frame—and that's good news for real estate agents, construction industry workers and others who earn their living in the housing market. In the third quarter of 2008, the median sales price of a home in Prince William stood at $202,716, according to VAR. A year later, the median sales price was $206,636, about 1.9 percent higher, VAR reported.

In comparison, all of Northern Virginia saw a growth in housing sales of 4.3 percent between the third quarters of 2008 and 2009, VAR reported. The Southern Piedmont region felt the greatest growth, with nearly 36 percent more sales in third quarter 2009 than third quarter 2008; the Greater Augusta region experienced the biggest drop, about 56 percent, according to VAR.

As for foreclosures, the Northern Virginia area took the biggest hit this year. First quarter foreclosures stood at 3,431; second quarter, at 3,805; and third quarter, 4,688.

Prince William, while high on the regional list of most foreclosures, at least saw a decline between second and third quarters for 2009. From January through March, the county reported 2,668 foreclosures. From April through June, the figure stood at 3,138. But from July through September, that number dropped a bit, to 3,025.

Staff writer Cheryl Chumley can be reached at 703-670-1907.