Housing sales get a slight boost

Home sales in Prince William area got a much-needed boost in March.

The month saw 579 home sales last month compared to 471 the same time in 2007, according to the Northern Vir-ginia Association of Realtors.

In addition to that, 946 sales were in the pipeline while there were 573 in March 2007, said Jill Landsman, a spokeswoman for NVAR, which tracks market performance in the region.

One of the only drawbacks was that average sales prices dropped 28 percent from $399,647 in March 2007 to $287,744 last month, according to statistics for Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park. And the median sale price in those municipalities also dropped last month from $370,000 to $260,000 the previous year.

Still, both are "statistical evidence" of a market correction, Landsman said.

"Prospective buyers are feeling comfortable that they're getting a good deal," Landsman said.

"The uptick in sales is important," regardless of how narrow it may be, she added.

Meanwhile, sales dropped to 1,250, nearly 29 percent, in March for Arlington and Fairfax counties and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church.

But houses in those jurisdictions are holding on to their value, Landsman said, and sales in some areas within those jurisdictions performed fine.

A less significant improvement NVAR reported for the Prince William area was the average number of days homes were on the market. It declined slightly, from 135 days in March 2007 to 133 in March this year.

"All I can say is it's going in the right direction," Landsman said.

Lisa Fowler of George Mason University's School of Public Policy said the statistics show improvement but not to expect any "great upsurge" in the near future.

In the first quarter of 2008, home sales in the county got a 3 percent nudge while statewide sales were down 26 percent, Fowler said.

Right now, the county has roughly 12 months of unsold inventory it has to move before being at the four or five months of inventory that is typical of a stable market.

According to NVAR, the number of listings increased from 5,137 in March 2007 to 6,724 in March 2008. That includes some foreclosures, but not all, Landsman said.

An overloaded inventory along with the mounting number of foreclosures, now at roughly 6,000, are putting "downward pressure" on prices, Fowler said, adding that she expects there to be at least another quarter of double-digit price declines, she said.

The political climate in the county could end up working against a county that's

especially been hit hard by

foreclosures.

"This is anecdotal, but immigrants living in Prince William County and got into difficulty making housing payments … instead of staying in the county they're abandoning homes in the middle of the night," Fowler said.

Some might say that's a good thing and that people who agree with the county's immigration policy will move here, she said.

But it could just as easily create a sense of political and economic instability, and end up reducing demand, Fowler added.

Staff writer Elisa Glushefski can be reached at 703-878-8062 or eglushefski@potomacnews.com.