NoVA Home Sales Increase for 12th Straight Month

The Northern Virginia Association of Realtors reports that:

Sales activity in Greater Northern Virginia for March 2009 continues to show an increase from 2008. The number of Greater Northern Virginia region homes sold in March was 2,755, a 19.94% percent increase from March 2008’s total of 2,297 sales.

This marks the twelfth consecutive month of increased year-over-year sales totals for Greater Northern Virginia. The average sales price of $317,158 in March 2009 compares to a March 2008 average sales price of $409,294.

Across Greater Northern Virginia, the number of listings showed a decrease from 2008 numbers, with 15,508 listings active, which is 31.17% less than this time last year, when 22,531 homes were available. The average number of days on the market for a home sold in March 2009 was 95, compared with last year’s 121 days, a decrease of 21.01%.

MP: Seems a lot like a healthy real estate market in recovery: 12 consecutive months of year-over-year increases in home sales, a 31% decrease in active listings over the last year, and a 21% decrease in the average number of days to sell a home. Of course the average home price has fallen by 22.5% in Northern Virginia over the last year, but that's the way markets work - the falling home prices stimulate home sales.

The data suggest that the Northern Virginia real estate market is way past its bottom, and has been making a solid recovery and strong comeback for many months. And yet doesn't much of the national news suggest that real estate markets in most parts of the country are still years away from a recovery?