New Report Shows Fairfax City on the Upswing

The economy is still in recovery mode, but as this article from The Fairfax Connection points out, the City of Fairfax is faring better than most. What strikes me about the MRIS report the story references, is that the City is attracting small businesses and families as a result in our investments in services and redevelopment initiatives. While we still have challenges, our focus is spot-on and I believe is a recipe for long-term success.

Better Days Ahead
Recent report shows that the City of Fairfax’s housing market is on the road to recovery.

By Justin Fanizzi
Thursday, May 27, 2010 Bookmark and Share

The City of Fairfax may finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, and this one is quite bright.

The city’s housing market is showing signs of recovery with increasing sale prices and quicker sales times, according to a report compiled by Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc (MRIS). The sale price increase, while a seemingly small 1.5 percent, represents the hint of a return to normalcy in the marketplace and the stabilization of an important economic indicator.

"While the Mid-Atlantic housing market is not yet performing at the robust levels of 2005, it is clearly showing some important signs of recovery that are crucial to reestablishing a stable housing market," said David Charron, CEO of MRIS.

MRIS, a provider of real estate information and the largest multiple listing service in the nation, compiles and releases a quarterly report, "Trends in Housing," for use primarily by real estate agents across the country. MRIS collects and analyzes all home sales data in the Mid-Atlantic region, including sale price and time spent on the market, and forecasts what will happen in the region’s housing market.

In addition to providing data for the entire region, MRIS also chooses one specific market that it feels best represents that quarter’s trend to spotlight, and for the first quarter of 2010, it was the City of Fairfax.

"We do quarterly reports that show the Mid-Atlantic region [housing market] in a snapshot," said Tina McCormick, MRIS spokesman. "The latest report showed an upswing, and the City of Fairfax was one of two to three specific areas in the region that was a beacon of this trend."

According to McCormick, the city was highlighted because the regional market showed signs of moderate recovery in the first four months of 2010, and Fairfax was among the most promising markets. McCormick said that the average sales price of a home in the City of Fairfax in the first quarter, $401,550, increased 1.5 percent from the first quarter of 2009. The data also showed that homes in the city moved off the market on an average of three days quicker than the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region as a whole, with an average time of 68 days on the market.

The reason for this upswing, McCormick said, was the result of the city’s improving economic conditions, spurred by the city’s extensive redevelopment. The addition of upscale offices, residential and retail space, as well as the new regional library has spurred growth in the local area, leading to a slight influx in new residents. MRIS also cited the city’s "notably strong public school system" and "entrepreneurial environment" as factors in the market’s recovery as well.

"Unemployment is down in the city, the tax breaks are greater and there is a healthy inventory [of homes]," McCormick said. "In turn, the supply and demand is becoming more in balance and it’s becoming steady."

Though the increase may bode well for the future, the average first quarter sales price was actually down 25.6 percent from a peak in the third quarter of 2006, a sign that while conditions are improving, progress must still be made. Fairfax City Councilmember Dan Drummond said that more families are moving to the city because of the high quality of life, but said that the city must continue with the myriad development projects in the pipeline to maintain an environment that is welcoming to families but also encourages small business growth.

"The report is an indicator that we’re on the right path, but we’re still in the middle of a recovery," Drummond said. "We’re still working hard to renovate downtown and Fairfax Boulevard. We have more proposed development in the pipeline than at any point in the city’s history, and that is remarkable."