It's All About The Children

A friend recently asked me how “How’s the market doing?” Of course, “the market is good; and at the right price, with the right Realtor and proper showing, any house will sell.” “Sure, sure …” she said. Somehow I don’t think I convinced her.

Sound familiar? Of course with the media blasting doom and gloom for the past two years, who can blame her for having doubts? So where is the good news? Well, let’s connect a few dots.

(1) Earlier this week, Express reported that local public school enrollment rose. Prince William County is now the second largest system in the state behind Fairfax which is 13th in the nation. Additionally, Loudoun County showed the fastest growth rate in the Washington area at 7%.

(2) Over the past 12 months, 47,600 new jobs were added in the Washington area. This is 5.8% above the 15-year annual average. Northern Virginia created 41% of these new jobs and it is projected that job growth will continue to increase upward to 49,000 by 2009. (MRIS “Trends in Housing)

(3) Approximately 25% of the U.S. population is a homeowner with children under the age of 18. (HUD Report)

(4) Approximately 46% of first-time home buyers have children under the age of 18. Roughly 49% of repeat buyers have children.

OK, thanks for all the numbers, right? The point is that the Washington area continues to maintain a solid job growth. As employment increases so does the demand to purchase a home. Northern Virginia is projected to bring in almost 20,000 new jobs in 2008. Of these, roughly 8,000 will become homeowners with children. There is no coincidence that this number matches the reported new enrollments figures. The influx has already begun as evident by the additional yellow buses you are seeing.

So, like I told my friend: “The market is good.”