2017 saw home prices going up and up in Northern Virginia, and predictions say that the Virginia housing market will keep with this trend in 2018. It’s a seller’s market in the state of Virginia this year, but the currently low-interest rates are also making it a decent time for buyers as well. These past couple years have been the best in a while when it comes to the housing market, now that the United States is out of its last depression.
There are always other factors that affect the real estate market in any given area. In Virginia, and the rest of the states, there’s always the question of what’s going to happen with this new tax bill. Buying a home has always been a good investment, not just for adding to your assets, but for the tax benefits when it comes to tax time. Changes to home buyer’s taxes could leave some future homeowners in the lurch.
Influencing Factors for the 2018 Virginia Housing Market
- The Virginia housing market is already on an upswing in 2018, and it seems to be riding on a high from what started as a rise throughout the 2017 market year. Beginning in January of 2017, the median house price in Virginia was between $300,000 and $400,000. At the start of 2018, it had already risen to over $500,000 in the Fairfax area, according to nvar.com. Zillow shows the median housing cost in Virginia Beach at a range lower than $300,000.
- Southern Virginia offers a lower average market price on housing, somewhere in the mid-400,000 dollar range. Houses are staying on the market unusually long, up to 55 days, in recent months (which is almost twice the average amount real estate agents predict for houses to sell). However, this is a 10 percent drop from the previous year. This percentage could easily change as the housing costs level off.
- Virginia currently has over 14,000 foreclosed homes on the market, if you check Zillow. However, according to RealtyTrac, the foreclosure rate in Virginia is one home in every 2250, which is a low rate compared to some. We predict this low trend to continue throughout 2018, as the currently foreclosed homes find new owners.
- The Virginia Association of Realtor’s third-quarter report from 2017 showed that new home buyers might find difficulty with the high median home prices. That means it’s a good market for sellers and people with the money to invest in a pricey home, but there isn’t much left for those that want an affordable home. Nonetheless, sales were up at the end of 2017; The year-to-date market volume showed a growth of 8 percent for the final three months of the year. 2017 ended at $31.962 billion, over the former year’s $29.548.
- Sales dropped a bit in the third quarter of 2017, but only around .1 percent, according to the same report cited above. This drop doesn’t look like a trend that will stick around for much of 2018 though.
- The Virginia Association of Realtor’s also cited that the unemployment rate stayed the same toward the end of 2017, and remains below the national rate. Lower unemployment rates leave more people able to consider home ownership and fewer chances of falling into foreclosure and debt.
Best Two Places to Live in Virginia
Virginia offers beaches, mountains, and more. When it comes to buying a home in this small state, there are a couple places you should consider first.
Virginia Beach
Zillow reports that the Virginia Beach area has a median home value of $260,400, around $158 a square foot. In the past year, this is an increase of over 2 percent. We’re predicting at a 1.5 percent increase within 2018, a little short of Zillow’s prediction. While housing rates are rising across the state, it makes sense that costs would level off sometime mid-year.
Virginia Beach currently has a 1.4 percent rate of delinquent mortgages. Delinquency could lead to an increase in foreclosures, but it seems unlikely the increase would be very high. It’s not like the housing nightmare of 2007 to 2011 when many people owed more on mortgages than what their homes were worth. Most people have pulled out of that, or lost their homes and started over at this point.
Fairfax County
When looking at the Virginia housing market, one can’t skip taking a look at Fairfax County. The median value of homes in this area runs around $520,000, and this is a decline over the past year (-.3 percent). Homes are $301 per square foot, on average. This price is $83 more than the average cost of a home in the Washington metro area, according to Zillow.
There are .07 homes per every 10,000 currently in the process of foreclosure in Fairfax County. .5 percent of homes are showing a delinquent mortgage in this area, which is lower than the national average. More houses will be foreclosed on in 2018, but the rate will stay lower than the national average, as far as trends go.