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Brad Chandler of Express Homebuyers evaluates real estate statistics for Prince William County, Virginia from Aug. 2011.

Prince William County homeowners have cause for optimism when it comes to the real estate market. The average sales price of a home sold in August was $304,944. This is a 3 percent increase from a year earlier. However, only 498 homes sold in August, that’s 15 percent less than last August. Those homes took on average 53 days to sell. Don’t despair because while it’s a 23 percent increase—it’s only taking 10 more days and is still a very short sales time.

It was nice to see the housing supply fall to below three months. Based on 558 homes sold in July there is less than a 3-month supply of homes in Prince William County. Home supply tells you the number of months it would take for all of the current homes for sale on the market to sell at the current monthly sales volume. Between four and five is average. A higher number means there are more sellers than buyers.

Sellers are receiving almost 97 percent of what they list their home for. To put this in perspective, if a seller listed their home for $100,000 they would, sell it for $97,000.

Here are a few other numbers to keep an eye on to determine the market’s health in Prince William County. The number of homes for sale decreased 3.7 percent from a year ago to 1,548 while the number of homes that came on the market decreased 10 percent to 697 homes. The number of new contracts that buyers placed on homes for sale increased over 26 percent from a year ago which is great news. This indicates buyer activity surged. Though no one can say exactly what cause the surge, I can surmise it is a combination of lower interest rates—which are currently at an all time low—coupled with buyer perception that we are at the bottom of the pricing cycle and prices will likely increase. It is my opinion that these factors together indicate a healthy real estate market in Prince William County.

If you have any questions about this information or selling your Prince William County house fast, please call Express Homebuyers.

Read the August 2011 real estate statistics for Montgomery County, Maryland as reported by Brad Chandler of Express Homebuyers.

At an average sales price of $494,944, there was a solid 5.5 percent increase in homes sold in Montgomery County, Maryland, as compared to the sales made in 2010, indicating a very stable real estate market in the county. This year however, there was a slight decrease of 6 percent from the sales of homes last year to the 847 being sold in August, taking an average of 69 days to complete the sale as opposed to the 66-day sale period the prior year.

In July, there were 907 houses sold. If this pace continues with no new homes to replace the ones being sold, housing units for sale would run out in 3.5 months. Sellers are coming relatively close to their asking price come closing, getting 94 percent of their asking price.

In Montgomery County, 3,247 homes sold this year in August, which is 12 percent fewer than last August. Additionally, the number of housing units that entered the sales market decreased to about 985 units; this is a 21 percent decrease from the previous year. A 4 percent increase of contracts made in home selling this year is another very positive factor.

Reviewing these August 2011 real estate statistics for Montgomery County in Maryland point to a healthy and stable real estate market. For more information about these numbers or to sell your Montgomery County home, contact Express Homebuyers. We are here to guide you all the way.

The owner of Express Homebuyers Brad Chandler, summarizes the real estate market each month for Prince William County. This month he reviews August 2011 and includes a few highlights.

Unfortunately, home prices in Prince Georges County declined again from last year. The decline is about 11 percent, falling to $179,654. Prince Georges County has experienced one of the steepest declines in home values, in the area, over the past four years, with some areas seeing values nearly cut in half.

It is not all bad news however. A total of 719 homes were sold in August, more than a 6 percent increase from the previous August. These homes remained on the market for 105 days – an increase of 22 percent and sellers are only getting 90 percent of what they list their house for. Essentially, this means that if the seller lists his or her home for $100,000 it will sell for $90,000.

In terms of supply, in July, 2011 there were 739 homes sold. When you divide this into the number of active listings, this signifies a 4.5-month supply of houses. So what exactly does “supply of houses” mean? Well, if buyers continued their trend and go on buying at the July pace going forward and no new homes entered the sales market, the supply of houses for sale would run out in 4.5 months.

The inventory of homes for sale decreased 12 percent August of last year to 3,247. The number of homes entering the market decreased over 21 percent to 985 homes. On a positive note, the number of new contracts buyers placed on homes increased 4 percent from a year ago. Overall, the good news here favors homebuyers looking in Prince Georges County. Sellers on the other hand should wait longer and expect less from the sale of their home.

To discuss any of these statistics in more detail, feel free to call Brad Chandler at Express Homebuyers. They can also help you sell your Prince Georges house quickly.