Fairfax County stood in the middle of the pack when it came to home-buyer interest in July, according to new data.
The county’s score of 88 on the Bright MLS T3 Home-Demand Index was good enough to place the county fourth out of 10 jurisdictions. But it still represented a slow pace of buyer activity, perhaps owing to limited inventory and higher prices coupled with elevated (compared to several years ago) mortgage-interest rates.
July figures were reported Aug. 10.
The index uses a variety of data points and a proprietary formula to settle on a monthly score for buyer interest all the way down to the ZIP-code level. It is a forward-looking counterpart to rear-view-mirror monthly sales data.
The open-ended scorecard gauges buyer-interest conditions as High with any total above 130; Moderate from 110-129; Steady from 90-109; and Slow from 70-89. Any score less than 70 suggests the market of available homes is limited.
Regionally, the score of 81 for June was down about 10 points from a month ago and 30 points from a year before. For the year to date, home-buyer activity peaked in April and has fallen for three consecutive months.
“Buyer interest in all types of homes fell in July – the index for luxury single-family homes decreased the most, falling by 15 percent, followed by a 13-percent decline for mid-market single-family homes,” analysts said.
“Demand was weakest for entry-level and mid-market single-family homes,” analysts said, likely due to a combination of affordability and availability issues.
Alexandria was at the top of the ranking for July, with a T3 score of 135. Arlington followed as 129.
Among other localities in the July data: Falls Church clocked in at 109, Prince George’s County at 86, the District of Columbia at 82, Loudoun County at 80, the city of Fairfax at 79, Montgomery County at 70 and Frederick County at 57. All were down from double digits compared to a year before except for Falls Church, which posted a slight increase in buyer interest.
Among individual ZIP codes in GazetteLeader coverage areas in Fairfax County, 22180 (Vienna) led the pack at 121, followed by 22181 (Vienna), 117; 22102 (McLean), 69; 22101 (McLean), 59; 22124 (Oakton), also 59; 22182 (Vienna), 47; 22027 (Dunn Loring), 41; and 22066 (Great Falls), 35.
For full data all the way to the ZIP-code level across the region, see the Website at homedemandindex.com.
