The entire commonwealth, except Northern Virginia, saw double-digit growth in home sales for the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to the same three-month period in 2008, according to statistics released Monday by the Virginia Association of Realtors.
Statewide, sales rose an average of 18 percent, according to the comparison of the October-November-December time period from 2009 and from 2008. But "the Northern Virginia region experienced a decrease in sales compared to fourth quarter 2008, by a slight 1.9 percent," VAR reported.
Also specific to Northern Virginia: This was the region with "the highest percentage in increase in its median sales price" when comparing fourth quarter 2008 with the same three-month period for 2009, VAR found. On average, prices of homes in Northern Virginia rose by 13.8 percent; houses to the south, meanwhile, cost just 3.4 percent more than a year earlier, VAR reported.
The Northern Virginia region includes 14 counties and six cities, according to VAR's definitions. Prince William is within this region, along with the counties of Fairfax, Arlington, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Fauquier, Madi-son and Rappahannock, and the cities of Alexandria, Manassas Park and Fredericksburg.
On the foreclosure front, Virginia has seen a drop between fourth quarters. In 2009, the number stood at 14,668, while in 2008, it was 18,135 -- a 19 percent decrease, VAR reported.
For all of 2009, VAR found, 65,574 homes were foreclosed. At the same time, an "interesting phenome-non" has developed, VAR reported.
"The region that historically has had the highest number of foreclosures in a given quarter is Northern Vir-ginia," according to VAR. "While it still led the state with the highest number of foreclosures by a large margin, it actually posted the largest percentage decrease from the third to the fourth quarters, 31.6 per-cent."
In Prince William, foreclosures have fallen over the last three quarters. In January through March, the county saw 2,668 foreclosures, VAR reported. In the second quarter, the number of foreclosed homes stood at 3,138; in the third quarter, 3,025; and in the fourth, 2,089.
Staff writer Cheryl Chumley can be reached at 703-670-1907.
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