By Cody Mello-Klein | cmelloklein@alextimes.com
Amazon’s impending arrival to Northern Virginia is already impacting the housing market in Alexandria and Arlington, according to a new report from Redfin, a Seattle-based real estate site.
Redfin uses the Redfin Compete Score, which rates how difficult it is for buyers to find a home based on the number of competing offers and waived contingencies. It also takes into account multiple listing service data on how fast homes are going under contract and how much above list price they’re selling.
With an RCS score of 96, Alexandria and Arlington – and Grand Rapids, Michigan – buyers face the most competition of anywhere in the country, according to the report.
Both cities, adjacent to the site of Amazon’s incoming second headquarters, are seeing an intense decrease in the amount of time homes stay on the market. Homes sold in July went off the market in a median 11 days in Arlington and 14 days in Alexandria, which is far below the national rate – 38 days – or that of the D.C. metro area – 27 days – according to the report.
More demand and less supply mean homes are selling well above list price. Fifty-seven percent of homes for sale in the two cities went off the market in fewer than two weeks, while the number of homes for sale fell by around 50 percent from last year, according to the report.
