Thursday, March 7, 2013

Northern Virginia Foreclosures - a non-effect in early 2013

Just in case you’re wanting to finally get into the real estate market with all the low interest rates and price appreciation you may be hearing about – just wanted to let you know, there are only 9 foreclosures on the market as of today, in the Northern Virginia area.
That includes Arlington county, Alexandria city, and Fairfax County. Yep – just 9 – that’s roughly 0.4% of the available inventory. There are also another 79 short sales (4.9% of the inventory) for those who want to go after that sort of purchase. Distressed properties are no longer a major part of the D.C.-area market.
Sellers are now having an easier time of selling houses in this market. The buyers are squaring off to bid houses up and forego some traditional negotiation strategies to get the home of their choice.
It doesn’t mean buyers can’t get a good house at a good price – it just means you need a good pro on your side to help negotiate the contract and get you in the house.
As you can see on the chart below – there really is not a lot of short sale or foreclosure inventory in Northern Virginia. Those pieces of the pie have generally been eaten and the plate licked clean!

Weichert Realtors, McLean VA

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Home Prices On the Rise

The D.C. housing market has been a shining light in an otherwise tepid economic picture for the region. Home sales prices are set to finish up for 2012 over 2011 — which will be the fourth year in a row that the region has enjoyed value appreciation.
The charts below is for Northern Virginia which had a high average price of more than $525,000 for the summer and finished December out with more than $518,000. (The average home price includes all housing types – condo, townhouse and single-family).
The December price is only 8.1% below the highest December price on record, which was set in 2005. The tortoise-speed appreciation over the years is actually a very healthy road to recovery, rather than the sky-rocketing fashioned appreciation of the mid-2000s.
Most home sellers and buyers have not even noticed the recovery and many buyers are surprised at the level of activity at open houses these days when they visit on a Sunday. (First opens are drawing dozens of visitors these days, instead of the usual trickle in open houses of the past).

Home sellers can be assured of good traffic and a strong sale if their home is priced appropriately. Buyers are continually blessed with excellent mortgage interest rates.
To discuss this in more detail and get area specific information tailored to your search or property please don't hesitate to email or call us at 703-822-5240.