Inventory Continues to Fall in the Fredericksburg Region

October 18, 2017

Market Minute Logo 2017Residential home inventory in the Fredericksburg, Virginia, region was lower in September than a year earlier, and the number of units sold was up slightly region-wide, according to the Long & Foster Market Minute reports. The Fredericksburg region Market Minute report includes Fredericksburg City and Spotsylvania, Stafford, Culpeper and Caroline counties.

Fredericksburg Market Minute Chart Sept 2017

Average days on the market in the Fredericksburg region ranged from 31 days in Stafford County to 55 days in Fredericksburg City. That’s down compared to a year earlier, when the range was between 39 in Spotsylvania County and 60 in Caroline County.

Active inventory again decreased region-wide, including a 22 percent drop in the city of Fredericksburg compared to a year earlier.

“The whole market is remarkable, but pretty consistent with what we’ve seen most other months of this year,” said Larry “Boomer” Foster, president of Long & Foster Real Estate. There was a seasonal slowdown between August and September, during the start of the academic year for most schools.

Inventory remains a challenge, but home shoppers are still looking for move-in ready, turnkey properties. Buyers today, of whom millennials make up the largest generational group, lack the appetite for home remodeling that previous generations showed. Even at a discount, a fixer upper will likely take longer to sell, Foster said.

“Millennials have other things they would rather be doing,” Foster said. “They like traveling and philanthropic pursuits, not a two- or three-month project in the home they just bought.”

The Long & Foster Market Minute is an overview of market statistics based on residential real estate transactions for more than 500 local areas and neighborhoods and over 100 counties in eight states. The easy-to-read, easy-to-share reports include information about each area’s units sold, active inventory, median sale prices, list to sold price ratio, days on market and more.

Information included in this report is based on data supplied by Metropolitan Regional Information System and its member associations of Realtors, which are not responsible for its accuracy. The reports include residential real estate transactions within specific geographic regions, not just Long & Foster sales, and they do not reflect all activity in the marketplace. Information contained in this report is deemed reliable but not guaranteed, should be independently verified, and does not constitute an opinion of MRIS or Long & Foster Real Estate.