When do you see the prince william county real estate market trending in a positive direction?

Yes, we live and work in Prince William County and definitely have seen a trend up in home prices since 2011. Inventory is rather low in comparision to last year, so houses that are priced at market are getting at least one offer in a 2 week period. We just put up one of our REO properties on the market for just under a $1M and it is already under contract.

This home was rented in February.

In PW County, the average sold home price for this march was $293,671. This is up from last March which was $256,373. Compare that to the low in March of 2009 of $217,975 and I'm sure that you will agree that we have been trending up for 3 years!

I would like to suggest you get with a Realtor who services your region. They are the experts there and know the market better than anyone. You can find them by the Local Pros button above. They will certainly be glad to assist your Real Estate needs. Thanks

Eugene, the PWC market has already experienced a slight increase in property value over the past 24 months. Inventory levels are currently at a 2 year LOW. Appropriate priced homes that hit the market are receiving multiple offers within days. Please let me know if you have any specific questions.

Eugene, the prices in Prince William are already picking up. Overall there is an increase in prices. At the end of January there was only 2.4 months of inventory in Woodbridge alone and 1.5 months of rental inventory. That isn't much. And most properties are selling quickly. The overall national increase in prices is 4-5% annually. You factor in all this and you have a positive market.

Hi Eugene, I already see great strides being made in the housing market in Prince William County. We've seen an increase in home sale prices in a lot of the market in the county from this time 12 months ago but if you're asking when short sales will be gone or foreclosures and bank owned properties are no longer a large part of "the market" then we could be talking 5 or more years from now (or maybe even longer). We hit bottom a few years ago and we're on our way up (you can clearly see this by the tax assessed values of homes in the public records on each home) which is a good thing. I hope we never get back to the ridiculous market we experienced between 2005-2008 again. It's not sustainable. As much as I wish I could answer your question definitively, I'm afraid it leaves too much room for what one persons definition of "positive direction" may mean over another's.

Everyone says that the US has a down market, but the market is driven by jobs, which creates buyers, which creates sales and increased prices. Here in Virginia Beach we have been steady through the entire market down turn. We have dropped in prices and we do have inventory, however steady. Prince William needs to create the jobs to bring in the buyers and the ones that have jobs need to protect their credit, so they can become buyers. I feel that there should be a big push on credit repair right now in our country, so more people can buy. Thanks for the question.

Hopefully in 2012. Prince William County's job growth actually fared well not only in Virginia but nationally in 2011. The unemployment rate in the county is actually dropping according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. When will that translate to more people buying more houses and therefore putting upward (positive) pressure on the real estate market? That is a little more difficult to answer. The economy has been so sluggish for so long that I get the impression that people are still weary about buying. I think that once consumer confidence picks up, we will definitely see more sales. However, as long as the economy continues to improve in the county and surrounding counties, it is only a matter of time before we see that translate to a stronger real estate market.

We are seeing more positive activity in Prince William since the beginning of 2012. Inventories are way down from historic levels, which means that sellers that price their home correctly are seeing their houses sell quickly. Interest Rates are also at All Time, so buyers have more buying power.