Real Estate
Are We Still in a Sellers Market?
Check out how fast Reston properties are going under contract!
Although the market is super hot right now, many homeowners are wondering how we will know if the market is shifting from a seller's market to a buyer's market. A higher Contract Ratio signifies a relative increase in contract activity compared to supply, and indicates the market is moving in the seller's favor. A lower Contract Ratio signifies a relative decrease in contract activity compared to supply, and indicates the market is moving in the buyer's favor. In this article, we breakdown the trends in the Contract Ratio for detached homes, townhouses, and condos to see what's happening in the Reston real estate market.
RESTON DETACHED ACTIVITY:
In Reston, VA, the median sold price for detached properties for June was $763,000, representing an increase of 7.1% compared to last month and an increase of 13% from June 2019. The average days on market for units sold in June was 18 days, 24% below the 5-year June average of 24 days. There was a 36% month over month increase in new contract activity with 34 New Pendings; a 60% MoM increase in All Pendings (new contracts + contracts carried over from May) to 40; and a 14.8% decrease in supply to 23 active units. This activity resulted in a Contract Ratio of 1.74 pendings per active listing, up from 0.93 in May and an increase from 1.19 in June 2019. The Contract Ratio is 83% higher than the 5-year June average of 0.95. This indicates the market continuing to favor sellers.
Table 1: Contract Ratio for Detached Homes in Reston
| Month | CLOSED | SOLD PRICE (MED) | DOM (AVE) | CONTRACT RATIO |
| JUN-20 | 23 | $763,000 | 18 | 1.74 |
| MAY-20 | 27 | $712,500 | 7 | 0.93 |
| APR-20 | 26 | $798,000 | 8 | 0.73 |
| MAR-20 | 24 | $757,500 | 8 | 0.75 |
| FEB-20 | 20 | $706,999 | 35 | 0.80 |
| JAN-20 | 11 | $700,000 | 44 | 0.82 |
| DEC-19 | 10 | $705,000 | 41 | 1.40 |
| NOV-19 | 16 | $813,941 | 33 | 1.56 |
| OCT-19 | 30 | $650,000 | 29 | 0.67 |
| SEP-19 | 39 | $685,000 | 39 | 0.54 |
| AUG-19 | 36 | $737,000 | 36 | 0.97 |
| JUL-19 | 32 | $690,000 | 24 | 0.97 |
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RESTON TOWNHOUSE ACTIVITY:
In Reston, VA, the median sold price for townhouse properties for June was $462,050, representing an increase of 2.5% compared to last month and a decrease of 6.2% from June 2019. The average days on market for units sold in June was 9 days, 54% below the 5-year June average of 20 days. There was a 9.3% month over month increase in new contract activity with 59 New Pendings; a 22.6% MoM increase in All Pendings (new contracts + contracts carried over from May) to 65; and a 10.6% decrease in supply to 42 active units. This activity resulted in a Contract Ratio of 1.55 pendings per active listing, up from 1.13 in May and an increase from 1.06 in June 2019. The Contract Ratio is 39% higher than the 5-year June average of 1.12. This indicates the market continuing to favor sellers.
Table 2: Contract Ratio for Townhomes in Reston
| Month | CLOSED | SOLD PRICE (MED) | DOM (AVE) | CONTRACT RATIO |
| June | 42 | $462,050 | 9 | 1.55 |
| May | 47 | $451,000 | 9 | 1.13 |
| April | 48 | $477,500 | 12 | 1.04 |
| March | 34 | $475,600 | 16 | 1.56 |
| February | 31 | $497,450 | 31 | 1.16 |
| January | 21 | $465,000 | 22 | 1.71 |
| December | 26 | $455,000 | 26 | 1.04 |
| November | 40 | $458,500 | 26 | 1.15 |
| October | 56 | $482,750 | 34 | 0.73 |
| September | 52 | $445,000 | 18 | 0.79 |
| August | 56 | $437,500 | 17 | 0.73 |
| July | 60 | $469,900 | 15 | 0.82 |
RESTON CONDO ACTIVITY:
In Reston, VA, the median sold price for condo properties for June was $285,000, representing an increase of 0.7% compared to last month and a decrease of 7.3% from June 2019. The average days on market for units sold in June was 21 days, 33% below the 5-year June average of 31 days. There was a 28.6% month over month increase in new contract activity with 45 New Pendings; a 16.2% MoM increase in All Pendings (new contracts + contracts carried over from May) to 43; and a 15.9% increase in supply to 73 active units. This activity resulted in a Contract Ratio of 0.59 pendings per active listing, no change from May and a decrease from 0.72 in June 2019. The Contract Ratio is 14% higher than the 5-year June average of 0.52. This indicates the market beggining to favor buyers.
Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Table 3: Contract Ratio for Condos in Reston
| Month | CLOSED | SOLD PRICE (MED) | DOM (AVE) | CONTRACT RATIO |
| June | 73 | $285,000 | 21 | 0.59 |
| May | 63 | $283,000 | 18 | 0.59 |
| April | 64 | $295,000 | 11 | 0.69 |
| March | 78 | $306,266 | 26 | 0.63 |
| February | 66 | $337,500 | 34 | 0.88 |
| January | 46 | $315,000 | 46 | 0.63 |
| December | 42 | $282,450 | 24 | 0.71 |
| November | 57 | $357,950 | 39 | 0.79 |
| October | 74 | $340,000 | 40 | 0.65 |
| September | 69 | $296,750 | 42 | 0.81 |
| August | 77 | $285,000 | 28 | 0.71 |
| July | 83 | $288,000 | 25 | 0.70 |
About Peggy Yee
Peggy Yee is a supervising broker at Frankly Realtors and is a local Top Producer. She has sold over $180 million in sales and was one of Northern Virginia Magazine's Top Realtors since 2015. She has been quoted in the Around Reston Magazine, Washington Post, Money Magazine, Consumer Reports, Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com. Peggy is 100% committed to making your move the best experience possible! Don't just take our word...Click here to see what Peggy's past clients have to say about the experience working with her from Buyer and Seller Video Testimonials and you'll understand why she is one of the top real estate agents in Reston with dozens of 5 Star Zillow reviews. Click here for Zillow Reviews.
* Data Source: BrightMLS and SmartCharts. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
