Why the Northern Virginia Real Estate Market is Different from the "National" Real Estate Market

The last few days, everywhere you look -- television, internet, newspapers -- there's a lot of doom and gloom about the real estate market. 

Understandably when numbers come out stating that nationwide resale home sales are down 27%+ and new home sales are at the lowest point since the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, there's some fear out there.

**However, every market is local.** 
                                               
                                              
(can't emphasize that enough!)

CNN, ABC, CBS, and the rest of the alphabet soup of national broadcast and cable stations do not report on the local market.  They report on the "national" market.  Truth is there is no such thing as the "national real estate market."

The Northern Virginia Real Estate Market is different.  It's a one word description that explains why:

Jobs.

No, not Steve Jobs -- he's out in Silicon Valley still trying to recover from the iPhone 4 antenna fiasco.

Real, honest to goodness, employment.

Check it:

While national unemployment figures weighed in at 9.6% and have been hovering just under 10% for quite some time, Northern Virginia is drastically different.  Not a single jurisdiction on this graph is over 6% unemployment (considered normal unemployment in "normal" times).  Arlington and Alexandria have unemployment rates under 5%!

Basically, if you want a job, there's one available in Northern Virginia.  That makes our housing market different. It's as simple as that.

Read more about jobs in Northern Virginia and their link to the Northern Virginia housing market:

Jobs = People = Houses -- Sounds Like a Winning Formula for D.C. Region

Less than Half: Unemployment in Northern Virginia

"J" is for Jobs; That's Good Enough for Me!

Not Just "Office Space" -- D.C. Area has the Good Jobs

Northern Virginia Highlights of the Trends in Housing Report