A slow December for real estate.

The numbers are in: December 2007 was the slowest month for DC area real estate transactions in 10 years. According to MRIS, 3,349 homes went under contract in December 2007 in DC, suburban Maryland counties, and suburban Virginia counties. This is down 35% from December 2006 levels and is down 51% from December 2004 levels. It's the lowest number of real estate transactions in the area since December 1997. The chart to the left shows the area's monthly transaction volume

This number is even more significant given the growth rate that the metro area has experienced over the last 10 years - our housing stock is much larger now. If you scale the comparison against areawide growth in home sales, Dec '07 was slower than Dec '97.

Seasonally, December is the slowest month of the year for real estate. But fear among homebuyers, concerns about home price declines, a high rate of foreclosures, and more stringent mortgage lending criteria have exacerbated the situation.