March 12th, 2009 7:01 AM

The number of homes sold in Northern Virginia rose 10 percent in February, as buyers continued to take advantage of falling prices.

During the month, 1,067 homes were sold in the area, which includes the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church as well as the counties of Fairfax and Arlington, according to Rockville-based market research firm Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. In the same month in 2008, the number of homes sold was 969.

The median sale price of a home in the area fell 23 percent in February to $318,000, according to MRIS.

D.C. home sales were not as stellar. There were 257 units sold, down from 369 homes sold in the same month last year, or a drop of 30 percent. The median sale price dropped 13 percent, from $414,000 in February 2008 to $360,000 last month. Units spent an average of 112 days, or 20 more days, on the market last month over February 2008.

Units on the Northern Virginia market, however, are being snapped up faster than last year. Homes are spending an average of 109 days on the market, compared with 116 days during the same period a year ago.

In Fairfax County alone, 853 homes were sold in February. That’s up 21 percent compared with a year ago. The median sale price dipped 24 percent to $307,000 last month. In Arlington County, however, the median sale price dropped just 4 percent to $408,000 and 90 homes were sold — down 34 percent from the same month a year ago.

Type the characters you see in this picture, click "Submit" when finished.

		This helps us prevent automated programs from creating bogus contacts and adding them to your contacts database.