[montag813]

Deals closing today were agreed to in early September and October. Real Estate slows down this time of year.

Average home prices drop 8-12% this time of year. And increase 9-13% in the spring. If you are a seller, dont panic...or actually, go ahead and panic like people did in 2002. As people drop their homes for the lowest bidder from sheer terror, they will slash inventories, which will lead to one further push up in April, as mortage rates fall below 6% once again.

[palmer]

In the two counties and three cities that make up the Northern Virginia market, more than twice as many homes were available for sale in October as in the same month one year ago -- 7,122 homes, compared with 3,254

The full story is here http://www.virginiamls.com/charts/index.htm 12,644 listings in commutable Northern VA, thousands more just beyond, plus those in DC and MD. The normal amount of influx (100 buyers a day or so) is not going to soak up that inventory easily. More will come online as the speculators start to bail out. The "good" news is that many speculators are stubborn and owners can't easily move so the price drops over the next year or years will be modest, probably 5% or so IMO.