While January traditionally sees the fewest closings under any market conditions in the DC area—a consequence of the lowest level of contracts entered during the holiday season—the current weather improvement gives hope that market activity soon will pick up. (The groundhog can’t be wrong!)
This would be good news for many frustrated buyers. The inventory in the more desirable neighborhoods in DC and its close-in Maryland suburbs is so low at the moment that it has actually been rather hard to find homes for those who are ready, able and willing to buy.
The Rock Creek Forest neighborhood--right on the District Line between DC and MD—is no exception here. Only three houses are on the market at the moment (one of them only since yesterday), and they can be expected to move fast.
But before musing about what this spring will bring, let’s have a look at how 2010 closed in comparison to 2009. As it turns out, our neighborhood has been doing incredibly well. The overall sales volume for RCF actually increased in 2010: $21,155,550 compared to $17,042,000 in 2009. This is largely due to a substantial price recovery: the average sold price increased to $682,437 (range $450,000 to $1,265,000) from the previous year’s $608,643 (range $315,000 to $975,000).
While the total number of houses sold (31 in 2010 and 28 in 2009; following a sharp drop from 40 to 22 between 2007 and 2008) was further proof of stability, there was another piece of good news for sellers: the reduction in the time houses sat on the market (DOM) began to shorten again to an average of 45 days in 2010 versus 56 days in the previous year.
Compared to other parts of the country, or even the region, this is a fabulous picture. Time will tell if the trend continues this year and beyond, or if there might be some fallout from a sort of double-dip recession as some have predicted. (We hope not!) Much will depend on the development of mortgage interest rates which have started to creep up a little since the beginning of the year.
(To be continued.)
Numbers cited include sold listings only; stats for withdrawn or previously listed properties have not been considered.
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