Low McLean Home Inventory Pushes Up Sales Prices

The spring housing market is here, and along with it are increased McLean home prices driven by a low inventory of homes for sale, according to MRIS.

In March, there were 38 homes sold in McLean, according to RealEstate Business Intelligence, an MRIS subsidiary. Houses on the market sold in an average of 170 days, compared to an average of 143 days last March.

The median sale price for these homes reached $1,262,500 last month, up 14.8 percent from March 2012.

In comparison, the greater Washington metro region as a whole hit its lowest March inventory since 2005. Active listings dropped nearly 20,000 since their peak in fall 2007, indicating that sellers are still cautious in this economy. The low inventory plays a major role in the market, deterring possible sellers from listing, according to MRIS.

Median sale price growth remains high with sales up from last year and median prices up 8 percent. For the District of Columbia, the median sales price is the highest on record.

The median days on market for the greater Washington metro was low at just 15 days, compared to a 5-year average of 40 days.

“Due to the low inventory in today’s market, it’s more important than ever that home buyers are seeing accurate data,” said Andrew Strauch, director at MRIS, in a prepared statement. “New listings are sold quickly and if buyers aren’t seeing a home for sale in real time as it is listed, it could already be off of the market in just a few days.”

Recent industry research from the WAV Group found that locally focused sites display new listings within minutes of being entered into the Multiple Listing Service, whereas national consumer sites such as Zillow and Trulia may not display the listings for up to nine days. MRIS, the region’s MLS, recently re-launched its consumer website MRIShomes.com to show buyers real-time local listings.