Local housing prices up, demand and inventory down
The November real estate market report from Fredericksburg Area Association of Realtors shows housing market continuing to tighten.
by Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Local housing prices continue to rise as demands drop and inventory shrinks, according to the monthly report released Wednesday by the Fredericksburg Area Association of Realtors.
The median home price in the region covered by FAAR (Fredericksburg City, the town of Colonial Beach, and the counties of Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, King George and Orange) in November of this year was $439,000—4% higher than it was in November 2022.
In Fredericksburg City, however, the median home price was up a full 36% in November of this year over November of last year, from $362,500 to $493,000.
The median home price in Caroline County—long a “bastion of affordability,” as FAAR’s public policy director Kim McClellan described it at the October housing summit convened by the Regional Housing Assembly—rose by 22%, from $290,000 in November of 2022 to $354,000 in November of this year.
Prices rose less dramatically in King George, Spotsylvania and Stafford counties—by 3%, 2% and 1%, respectively.
Inventory across the region remains low, with 815 active listings at the end of November as compared to 974 last year—a 30% drop.
New listings in Caroline were down 49% this year over last year. New listings in Fredericksburg City and King George County were down 37%; in Stafford they were down 32%, and in Spotsylvania they were down 9%.
“For the month of November, we saw falling interest rates and an increase in buyer activity,” said Abby Fitzsimmons with Coldwell Banker Elite in Stafford, a member of FAAR’s board of directors, in a press release about the November 2023 housing report.
“Buyers are able to negotiate a bit, especially if sellers are in a situation where they need to sell. On the listing side of things, days on market have increased but home values are holding steady due to a continuous lack of inventory. Thanksgiving begins the typical ‘holiday season’ where the real estate market slows down. If interest rates continue on their downward slope, we will see what December will bring.”
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-Martin Davis, Editor
Excellent piece and an important discussion. I hate to see it go without comment because housing is so basic to the local economy. Several years ago, there was an event called something like Reality Check where there were realtors, elected officials, planners, etc. in the room and we were presented with the demographic reality of projected growth. We each had a stack of markers representing the new housing that would be needed to handle that known growth and we placed them on a map indicating where projected density should go. After crowding new development along the I-95 corridor and other thoroughfares, which were already crowded, we had many markers left over. It was very sobering.
Housing merits a concerted effort, but I fear we do not have the administrative infrastructure, both private and public, to do what needs to be done.