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Washington DC Real Estate Prices Stabilize....

By
Real Estate Agent with Ocean Views Real Estate, Inc. 273057
It's common knowledge that the market shifted in the last 18 months.  But it's only now that the statistics are verifying some of the price corrections....Many of us on the front lines knew prices in reality were different a long time ago, however this was not being illustrated by the monthly stats as far as the price variable was concerned.   Why not?  Well the stats on price only reflect sold homes.  Thus all the homes that
  1. did not sell,
  2. rented
  3. expired
  4. or were withdrawn due to not being able to get a price the owner wanted
did not get factored into selling price statistics the previous year.  Thus the public kept hearing about a buyers' market but the market reports showed no drop in sold prices.  Lesson--the stats on a market are always behind the market.  You really have to be on the front lines to know what's going on exactly at that time.  And excellent realtors are the best at figuring it out; appraisers number two, the public and media tend to lag behind.  Often news I hear through various media channels is irrelevant by the time it's reported.  Although almost all media stories on Arlington VA real estate are irrelevant because the stories are on the national market place...not on Arlington Virginia real estate specifically.  So take all media reports with a grain of salt.  If you have a question then post it in the comments and I'll provide my honest assessment.  For example I said in November 2005 to not buy new construction condos.  Many of those buyers are upside down along with buyers of existing condos at that time.  Looks like I nailed that one.  But I've been wrong before just to be transparent here.

Home Sales Increase 3 Consecutive Months in Arlington & Washington DC


So here are the latest numbers for real estate in Arlington VA:
arlington county real estate 2006 vs 2007


What do the numbers tell us?  Well there has been an increase in the numbers of home sold 3 consecutive months.   Simultaneously, the median sold price dropped 3 months in a row compared with January, February and March 2006.  The price was down 16% in Jan, 8% in Feb and stayed completely flat -0.02% in March.  So it looks like a fixed market....More transactions than a year ago and identical prices as of March.  Looks like a very healthy market.  Sorry bubbleheads that you didn't get the disaster for which you were rooting!


Only time will tell if the correcting is over but my instincts tell me in the single family and townhouse market it's done.  For condos there is still more time needed for the stats to tell the tale as many owners have not dropped the prices of their Arlington Condos yet.  An example from last week was Lexington Square.  Lots of upside down owners there I'm sure which is tragic.  But we were looking under $500,000 for 2/2 and found 2 real estate listings to view in Ballston / Clarendon area.  But there were tons of lockboxes on the building.  Turns out there were a bunch of 2/2s listed higher than $500,000 even though comps were around $470-495,000 after I ran the numbers for my client.  I will not let you overpay!

In Washington DC we similar trends:
Washington DC statistics for real estate 2006 vs 2007

Prices dropped slightly from a year ago for sold homes while the number of DC real estate transactions increased dramatically.  What I will have to figure out is how to specifically get data for condos for some of my market reports.  It is imperative when buying a condo that you plan on owning it at least 3 years and that you comp it correctly when putting forth initial contract offers....

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