(Tiny) Forward Progress

Contract activity for May 4 - 10, 2025, in the Virginia Countryside and West Virginia Panhandle area was up 1.4% compared to the same seven-day period last year.

Key Takeaways

• The increases were small – but they were increases.  We’ll take it!
• The three counties in the West Virginia panhandle – Jefferson, Morgan and Berkely – were up 0.9%.  That’s because there was one more contract than this week last year.
• The Countryside areas – Fauquier, Shenandoah, Warren, Clarke and Frederick counties + Winchester City – were up 1.9% on the strength of two more contracts than last year.
• Homes took a week longer to sell than this time last year, an average of 34 days vs 27 days a year ago.

Why It Matters

• One week doesn’t make a trend by any means, and we’ll feel a lot better if we see a couple of more weeks of improvement.
• Interest rates last week were .33% lower than this time last year, and the stock market rebounded a bit last week as well.  Both help.
• Year-to-date contract activity in the WV and Countryside jurisdictions combined is down 5.3%.

The Real Estate Details

• Virginia Countryside was up 1.9%, and is down just 0.8% year-to-date.
• West Virginia Panhandle was up 0.9% and is down 9.4% year-to-date.