NoVa’s 2021 home sales surpassed 2020 total

In Northern Virginia, nearly 27,000 homes were sold in 2021, an increase of 17% over 2020’s total and the highest number of sales since 2005, the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors reported this week.

“For the year, the NVAR footprint total sales volume was up by more than 23%, reaching almost $19 billion. This is a reflection of the increased number of homes sold as well as rising prices due to extremely limited sales inventory,” Reggie Copeland, principal broker and C.R. Copeland Real Estate and association president, said in a statement. “In 2020, there were 22,840 homes sold, with a total sales volume just above $15 billion.”

The average price of a home sold in Northern Virginia last year was $714,208, an increase of 6.5% over the 2020 average sale price of $670,408. The median price rose by 5% from $590,000 in 2020 to $620,000 in 2021. The largest gains were from single-family homes with at least four bedrooms, which sold for almost 12% above the average cost of similar-sized homes sold in 2020.

It took an average of 19 days to sell a home in 2021, equal to the time homes were on the market in 2020. New contract activity was down 13.8% compared to 2020 and supply decreased by 39% compared to the previous year. New listings were down 20% in December 2021, compared to December 2020.

“In December, many of our Realtor members experienced a lull in market activity, particularly on the seller side with fewer new listings coming on the market,” Ryan McLaughlin, CEO of the association, said in a statement. “This was not unexpected, with more people planning holiday travel and in-person celebrations than occurred in 2020. Coupled with rising interest rates and uncertainty about the omicron variant, some people just pushed the pause button at year-end.”

The association’s geographic region includes Arlington, Fairfax (city and county), Falls Church, Vienna and Alexandria.