BLOG

Fall has become the New Spring in the Williamsburg Real Estate Market

Fall is the new spring in williamsburg vaIn this most unusual of years, the exception seems to have become the norm, especially when you are talking about the real estate market in the historic Greater Williamsburg area. Well priced homes that are in good condition are in demand. Competition is fierce with many sellers receiving multiple offers. Buyers are often asked to present their “highest and best offer” when entering into purchase negotiations.

One local broker was recently overheard to say that “Fall has become the new Spring” as far as real estate is concerned.

“That would certainly seem to be the case,” says Ellen Smith Gajda, Principal Broker/Owner of Williamsburg Realty, who served as President of the Williamsburg Area Association of REALTORS® (WAAR) in 2019. “We are seeing an extremely active real estate market at this time.

“There was, and still is a major concern when it comes to dealing with Covid-19,” adds Smith Gajda, “but we have all tried to take precautions and adjust for the protection of buyers, sellers, agents and the management staff.”

Williamsburg Realty and many companies in the area have worked hard to follow the safe practice guidelines. The office is cleaned continually throughout the day. Client conferences are conducted on a reserved basis. While it has been difficult to work through the restrictive nature of the Covid-19 virus, Williamsburg remains a popular place to live and buyers are doing their best to move up or get into the area.

“We are seeing many multiple offer situations on homes for sale,” continues Smith Gajda, whose 55Places and Neighborhoods.com real estate team recently earned national recognition for their work in the referral side of the business. “It would be nice to have more homes to sell.”

Williamsburg, like most of the nation, is experiencing a lack of inventory in homes available to sell. According to a recent WAAR Market Indicators Report, there were 468 new listings in August in the Williamsburg footprint, which was nine more than a year ago, but that number is down almost 25 percent from last August.

Demand is exceeding supply, but that has been somewhat good for sellers. Prices are trending upward, almost 11 percent up from a year ago. Average sales price in August was $360,330 with the majority of sales coming in single family homes. Townhome and condo sales numbers are down, losing a little more than 10 percent over the previous year.

Pending sales activity in August is signaling a strong start to the Fall market in the area. Statistics showed a 20 percent surge from August 2019 to August 2020. “Everyone has been busy,” concludes Smith Gajda. “Williamsburg continues to be a great place to live.”