This article was written by WTOP’s news partner, InsideNoVa.com, and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.

As the spring real estate market kicked into full gear in May, home sales in Northern Virginia were down 24.9% compared with May 2022, although home values remained strong.

Mortgage rates have receded slightly from recent spikes, and sales were up 27.3% in May compared to April, according to the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors (NVAR).

“The environment may be different than a year ago, but we are still selling homes,” said NVAR board member Colleen Wright. “The small decrease in mortgage rates has helped, but choices remain limited because many homeowners are wary of giving up the great rates they already enjoy. Buyers continue to have to act fast to get what they want.”

Homes sold quickly in May, averaging 13 days on the market — a decrease from April of 27.8%. While this represented a 30% increase from May 2022, this May’s days on market figure is in line with the five-year average of 14 days on market.

Demand and limited inventory kept prices high as the median sold price for a home in May 2023 was $715,000, almost the same as last May (up 0.2%) and 3.6% higher compared to April. The supply of inventory for May 2023 was 0.98 months, up 18.5% from May 2022 and up from 0.89 months of inventory in April.

“The trends we are finding are consistent with our recent mid-year market forecast. Prices will remain stable, with general expectations of modest rises,” said NVAR CEO Ryan McLaughlin.

NVAR recently released a mid-year update to its regional real estate forecast. The forecast noted that a continued lack of housing inventory, pent-up buyers’ demand creating a sellers’ market and positive economic conditions peppered with mounting risks may be in store for the Northern Virginia housing market for the remainder of 2023. The update was created in cooperation with the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University.

The NVAR data covers home sales activity in Fairfax and Arlington counties, the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church and the towns of Vienna, Herndon and Clifton.

Detailed data from May was as follows

• Closed sales: 1,821 units, down 24.88% compared to May 2022 but up 27.3% compared to April.
• Average sales price: $800,845, up 0.2% from May 2022 and down 0.5% from April.
• Active listings: 1,428, down 19% from May 2022.
• Pending sales: 1,864, down 24.1% from May 2022.