The Market 

End-of-week jump in Closed Sales. Closed sales for the week ending March 5th surpassed the number in 2019 and eked past 2020. And the week saw over 60% more sales than the prior week. Why? Weekly closed sales metrics tend to show a spike at the end of the month. And the final days of February are included in this week for 2023 and also for 2022,  while they were in the preceding week for 2019 and 2021, driving the increase in last week’s numbers. The expectation is a dip in closed sales next week, as activity at the beginning of the month is typically lower. 

Showings continue to mirror 2019. Showings increased 3% week-over-week, the second weekly gain. Showing activity resembles the numbers the Bright footprint reported for 2019.  Mortgage interest rates are significantly higher than last year, hitting 7% last week, and elevated compared to the 4% range in 2019. 

Time to contract dropping from the beginning of the year. The week ending March 5, 2023, reported median days to contract at 13 days. This figure is less than half the 28 days for the first week of the year. Buyers gained negotiating ground as interest rates rose, and some consumers had to move to the sidelines. Competition remains strong for attractive and well-priced homes.

Family Fun

Check out Autobahn Indoor Speedway

Speed-lovers, be prepared for the newest attraction taking over Northern Virginia: European-style indoor go-karting at Autobahn Indoor Speedway. Their state-of-the-art electric indoor go-kart racing experience offers perfect racing conditions every day. Change Your Speed at their Grand Prix style tracks with our unique, electric Italian go-karts reaching speeds up to 50 MPH. Kids 8 and up can race.

Local Business Highlight

New on the scene Mama’s Canine Mix offers all natural, whole food and organic ingredients for your canine family members. Not only that, they focus on environmentally friendly food sources by upcycling egg shells to create two high-value products; calcium carbonate (the shell) and collagen protein (the shell membrane), both excellent for animal and human consumption. Try this amazing product! Calcium++ is part of their SPRINKLES collection. Sprinkle some over your pets’ food. Great for bone health! 

In addition, brewers and distillers provide their spent grain for animal feed but it is far more than farmers can use. Tons of nutrient-rich spent rye and corn grains are rescued and restored leaving behind nutritious fiber and protein made into an edible ingredient. Try this wonderful spent grain product! You will find it as part of their treat collection as well as their SPRINKLES collection. This gem is packed with fiber and protein!

All of our clients can get a 10% discount on your first purchase with Mama’s Canine Mix! Use promo code 15WEST with your purchase. 

Outdoor Activities

Now that the weather seems to be warming up it’s time to get outside! One of our favorite places to go is Great Falls National Park, Here are just a few things you can do when  you visit: 

Falls and River Viewing: The three Falls overlooks are within a ten minute walk from the Visitor Center. Overlooks 2 and 3 are wheelchair accessible. The River Trail offers the best opportunities to view the Potomac River. Access the River Trail downstream from Overlook 3. Walking upstream from the Visitor Center will take you along the banks of the Potomac, eventually meeting up with trails in Riverbend Park.

Bicycling: Five miles of trails, including the Old Carriage Road, Ridge, and Difficult Run trails, are open for biking. Biking is not permitted on the Falls overlooks, or on the River, Patowmack Canal, Mine Run, or Matildaville Trails. 

Bird Watching: Don’t forget your binoculars and bird guides! Depending on the season and the time of day, you have a chance of viewing some of the 163 species of birds that can be found here. This large variety of birds makes Great Falls Park an excellent location for birding.

Boating: Great Falls Park is well known for whitewater boating with the use of whitewater kayaks and canoes. The section of the Potomac River flowing through the park varies from Class II (moderately easy) to Class VI (extreme). Most boaters who come here are experienced and know that they boat at their own risk. The Potomac River has many challenging currents, standing waves, and hydraulics. 

Climbing: Climbing sites begin downstream of Overlook #3 and end near the emergency boat ramp at Sandy Landing. No climbing is permitted in the historic canal cut. Routes range in length from 25 to 75 feet. Difficulty ranges from 5.0 up to the highest rated climbs at 5.14. Most of the routes are in the 5.5 to 5.9 range. All climbing is top-rope, and no anchors may be drilled into the rock. .

Try This!

Always wanted to try yoga or do it more often but don’t have the time (or budget) to get to a yoga center? Well, we’ve found an amazing solution for you –  Yoga with Adriene. 

Yoga with Adrienne is on a mission to make tools for mental, emotional, and physical health accessible for all, she hosts the YouTube channel Yoga With Adriene, an online community of over 11 million subscribers. Yoga With Adriene provides high quality practices on yoga and mindfulness at no cost to support and inspire people of all ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds across the globe.

Best of all? Her dog Benji joins many of her yoga sessions…you know how we love dogs!!