Great news if you've got a buyer for your Washington area home: You're likely to get about 4 percent more for it this year than you would have last year.
The difficulty comes in getting the buyer.
New home sales in our area have dropped dramatically -- down more than 18 percent from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors .
The average sales price for a home in our area is $351,100.
Nationally, existing home sales dropped 27.2 percent from June to july, with the average price of a home at $182,600. Single family sales are now at a 15-year low across the country.
The Midwest saw the biggest drop, followed by the Northeast. The South had the smallest decline.
CNBC reports analysts had been expecting a drop of only 12 percent due partly to the tax credits that expired in April.
They said the market is hurting in part because sellers won't drop prices and buyers won't commit because they think prices will go lower.
And with unemployment at 9.5 percent, some potential buyers fear they won't have a job to pay the mortgage.
