In the midst of foreclosures and short sales, one of the submarkets of the Washington, D.C. area has entered near-sellers market levels. Springfield, VA, just 12 miles from the White House and site of one of the busiest cross roads in the country, has experienced amazing growth in sales in 2008.

Consider these numbers for the month of December 2008:

• Inventory: -37%

• Pending sales: +88%

• Sold Units: +45%

• Absorption rate: 3 months

December's performance is not alone – local MLS data shows the town has been increasing in sales and dropping in inventory most of the year. To Realtors in this area, the most frustrating part of the market is that there's not enough inventory. Historically, a 3 month's supply points to a seller's market. A market with 5-7 month's supply is consider a normal market; above that level is a buyer's market. A year ago, Springfield was sitting in a 10-month supply. The turn-around results from various points:

Low unemployment: The Washington DC region has one of the lowest jobless rates I the country at barely 4 percent (the national level is 6.5%).

Job growth: More than 35,000 jobs have opened up in the metro area; Northern Virginia takes in more than half of those high-paying positions, according to the Center for Regional Analysis of George Mason University.

High Income: The median household income in Fairfax County stands at $105,000 – more than enough to purchase Springfield's average priced home at $306,000.

High Rents: Investors are able to purchase houses in this market and cover monthly costs with the rents – which averages $1,288 per month.

Published: January 16, 2009

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Mr. Carr is an award-winning real estate broker in Northern Virginia and authored "Real Estate Investing Made Simple: a commonsense approach to building wealth." He also contributed to Donald Trump’s book, "The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received," and is an active trainer and coach of top producers in the Washington DC market. As a sought-after expert on real estate, Mr. Carr has been featured on CNN, various broadcast outlets and was the former real estate editor for The Washington Times. He accepts questions at his blog www.RealEstateOlogy.org.