Not Bad, But Not What We Hoped For

Contract activity for September 7 - 13, 2025, in the Virginia Countryside and West Virginia Panhandle area was down just 0.5% compared to the same seven-day period last year.

Key Takeaways

• The West Virginia Panhandle had a second consecutive weekly increase in contract activity.  While nowhere near as big as the previous week’s 59.2% increase, the 2.9% increase was welcome nonetheless.
• The Countryside market was down 4.5%.
• Last week, mortgage interest rates fell to their lowest level of the year, so we thought we might see a bit of a bump in new contracts. That was not to be. The 191 new contracts last week were almost 9% lower than just one week prior, despite lower rates.

Why It Matters

• The psychology of the market is . . . interesting.  It almost seems like lots of would-be buyers have hit the “pause” button, waiting to see what the Federal Reserve does later this week.
• The mortgage market largely expects a 25-basis-point cut, so if that comes to pass, we don’t expect mortgage rates to change significantly.  A larger cut might move the needle a little lower, and that would be welcome news.
• Last week, homes going under contract took an average of 45 days to sell, while last year the number was 41 days.

The Real Estate Details

• Virginia Countryside was down 4.5%, and is up 2.9% year-to-date.
• West Virginia Panhandle was up 2.9% and is down 3.5% year-to-date.