The Northern Virginia Real Estate market is very hot currently for all homes under $500,000.  Being a Realtor and an appraiser gives me some in site into the current market.  Appraisal orders for refinance appear to have slowed down a bit, but appraisals for purchased orders are up!.  Also, I have many clients currently searching for homes and the market is extremely competitive.  Almost every offer we have made in the last month has had multiple offers and price escalations.  Another limiting factor in the market currently is that the inventory of homes in the sought after $500k or less price range has really dried up.   There is currently a very low supply of homes on the market.  The MLS stats don't fully quantify the shortage of homes, because many homes that agents still have listed as active are actually short sales with contracts on them already and are awaiting ratification/approval from the bank.