Mirroring national figures, housing inventories fell in November in the Washington region, providing further proof that the housing market might finally be headed for an upswing.
Nationally, the number of homes on the market fell 1.4 percent in November to 545,000 in the fourth straight decline since they hit an all-time high of 573,000 in July, according to figures released Wednesday by the Commerce Department. Inventory numbers are an important indicator for the health of the market because too many homes for sale kick it into an uneven buyers’ market and pushes prices down.
Locally, inventories, though still up significantly from last year, have also dipped. In Northern Virginia, for example, there were 6,317 single-family homes for sale in November. That’s down from 7,466 in October in a more than 15 percent reduction.
Locally, the number of homes sold remained relatively flat from October to November, while sales rose 3.4 percent nationally.
Jill Landsman, a spokeswoman for the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, said sales haven’t kept up with decreasing inventory because many potential homebuyers have stayed on the sidelines “waiting to see if things are going to get better or worse.”
But local economists predict the market should return to single-digit price appreciation this spring, ending a nearly yearlong slump.
