Fairfax County

Looked at in the past as an economic fortress, Fairfax County's housing market continued to erode in 2007.

But by one measure, the declines were not as severe as in 2006. That year, the number of single-family houses and townhouses sold dropped 40 percent. In 2007, a Washington Post analysis of county sales records shows, 10,826 homes were sold, a 16 percent decline. Condominiums were counted separately.

The median sales price of a home in 2007 was $520,000, a 1 percent drop from 2006. In Virginia, only Arlington County performed better, with prices appreciating and a more modest decline in the number of sales.

The sharpest decline in homes sold in Fairfax came in Herndon's Zip code 20170, where sales declined 51 percent. However, the median sales price there increased 14 percent, to $469,900.

Anita Lasansky, an agent with Long & Foster in Herndon, said low- or moderate-income people who bought houses when credit was easy have struggled as it has tightened.

Among areas with more than a handful of sales, the sharpest sales-price decline was in Zip code 22124 in Oakton, where the median price fell 12 percent, to $684,000.

One reason for the price decline in Oakton was that homeowners thought their homes were worth more than they were, said Kathy Shea of Weichert Realtors.

"If you price your home right in the very beginning . . . we know you're going to make more money," she said. "If you overprice it and you kind of chase the market, you're going to end up with less." Annandale also suffered; the median price in Zip code 22003 declined 4 percent, to $535,000, and the number of homes sold fell 31 percent.

"It's taking longer to sell, and a few of them are going into foreclosure," said Thomas Garcia of Century 21 Howell & Associates in Annandale. "So we've got that kind of situation where people tend to just stay put and not put their home on the market."

Southeast Fairfax County -- Springfield, Lorton and other areas near Fort Belvoir -- also showed weakness.

Lorton was badly hit in terms of price and the number of homes sold, with the number of sales in Zip code 22079 declining by about 41 percent and the median price declining about 9 percent, to $455,000.

"It's putting pressure on Mr. and Mrs. Smith who are selling their house because they are trying to move. When banks are reducing prices simply to reduce inventory and not to maximize and get top dollars, it makes it harder for Mr. and Mrs. Smith, " said Ron Kowalski, a Long & Foster agent in Lorton.

Great Falls remained the county's highest-priced region, with the median sales price just under $1.25 million in Zip code 22066. That Zip code experienced a 15 percent increase in homes sold, and prices appreciated 1 percent in 2007.

By contrast, Centreville, near Interstate 66 in Western Fairfax, had the lowest-priced homes, with a median sales price of $375,000 in Zip code 20121. That was a decline of $20,000, or 5 percent, from 2006. Underscoring how lower-income areas were being hurt by the housing slump, this area had a 26 percent decline in the number of homes sold.