John Seggerman of Seggerman Homes is enthusiastic about the improvement of Virginia's housing market: first-time home buyers take the credit

McLean, VA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 07/14/2015 --John Seggerman of Seggerman Homes/Weichert Realtors is an experienced residential real estate agent based in Northern Virginia. He's been a witness to incredible change in the real estate industry during his time as an agent, especially during the past seven years.

While Seggerman remains confident that the market will continue to grow, he's well aware of the fact that there are individuals who are wary of buying a home, while others lack useful information and thus remain confused about the whole process.

Results from a Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond survey show that the Virginia housing market is improving. The annual survey, released Monday, reveals that the housing market in Virginia has seen notable improvement in the first half of the year as compared to the same period one year ago.

The online survey which took place between May 4 and May 15, 2015 attracted 354 participants who also happened to be members of the Virginia Association of Realtors. The Richmond Fed survey required one to answer 16 questions intended to gauge the state of the housing market in early 2015 as compared to the same period in 2014.

First-time home buyers took the credit for the Virginia housing market improvement. They were represented by 45% of the 354 survey participants. "We saw a noticeable improvement in the residential housing sector in the commonwealth this year." This was Andy Bauer's take on the survey results.

Andy Bauer is the senior regional economist for the Richmond Fed. He also noted that severe winter weather was a factor that highly impacted the housing market in 2014 and 2015. According to 47% of those surveyed, sales were, "in a way," negatively affected by weather; while 20% cited that the weather "greatly" affected overall sales.

It was also observed that there was a notable increase of customer traffic in most regions – between 39% and 53%. The purchase range of homes also greatly varied. For instance, the average cost of a home in Virginia's Northern region was at $400,000 or more, while the Southwest and Southside regions featured lower prices of less than $200,000.

Survey highlights:

- 51% of the participants reported that median sales prices were slightly or significantly higher, up from 41% in 2014.

- 59% of the participants indicated appraisals were "about right"; 37% suggested that they were too low; down from 40% in 2014, 53% in 2013 and 58% in 2012.

- 70% of the participants expected home sales to increase, while just 9% expected home prices to decrease.

For more information regarding the housing market or Seggerman Homes, please visit http://www.SeggermanHomes.com