National Media vs. Local Real Estate Market
The headline from CNNMoney.com on March 29, 2011 is sure to grab attention for anyone considering buying or selling a home this spring is: “Home Prices Near A Double Dip.” It cites the January 2011 S&P/Case-Shiller home price index that covers 20 major markets as having dropped 3.1% year-over-year. That may appear to be good news for buyers and more bad news for sellers of real estate. But that statistic is not taking into consideration that all real estate is local. Otherwise why would “location, location, location” be the most often repeated mantra when discussing real estate values.
The “fine print” of the article states that the Washington DC metro region reported the most substantial increase of being up 3.6% in January, 2011 over January, 2010. The Washington DC metro region includes Northern Virginia which is where the Huckaby Briscoe Group predominately represents buyers and sellers. The Northern Virginia market area includes: Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax County, Falls Church, Great Falls, McLean, Oak Hill, Oakton and Vienna as well as other surrounding counties and cities.
It is the Realtor® on the ground working with actual buyers and sellers that should be reporting the news! And the agents with the Huckaby Briscoe Group have a couple of recent stories to share.
About a week ago we put a new listing on the market on a Friday in the Oak Hill section of Fairfax County. The list price was $675,000 and we knew that inventory was low for that price point but had no idea. Immediately the showings started and that evening we received a call that an agent was going to write an offer. There were so many showings the next day which was a Saturday that the neighbors thought that the home was being held open – even though it wasn’t. We did have an open house that Sunday afternoon from 1-4 p.m. and were absolutely mobbed with buyers. With all this activity it felt like the “glory days” for sellers in the rapidly rising market of 2004-2006. Agents were calling right and left indicating that they were going to be writing an offer for their purchasers. Thus we set a deadline of Sunday evening at 9 p.m. for all offers to be considered by the owners on Monday afternoon. In total we received 8 offers, many with escalation clauses taking the contract price to above the list price. The Sellers were of course elated!
Those purchasers that are reading national headlines and attempting to translate them to the local market conditions in Northern Virginia are coming up against lack of supply and great demand for good homes priced correctly in the under $1 million price range. Anecdotally, one of the Associate Agents with the Huckaby Briscoe Group has been working with buyers that are looking in the McLean High School pyramid for a home for their family. They have been renting and are ready to settle into the area. A new listing came on the market for $719,000 in Falls Church over the weekend. The buyers wanted to write an offer lower then list price, but when they found out that there were multiple contracts with more than likely escalations above list price, they backed away.
In either the case of the Seller or the Buyer, it is critical in these changing market times to be represented by an experienced Realtor® who can navigate you through the process. The Huckaby Briscoe Group has been in this marketplace for over 35 years – experience you can truly trust! Please contact Karen Briscoe via the means most convenient for you: www.HuckabyBriscoe.com, 703-734-0192, Homes@HBGroup.us.
The link to the CNN article entitled: “Home Prices Near A Double Dip”: http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/29/real_estate/January_home_prices/index.htm
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