Washington County, MD Weekly Real Estate Report: Foreclosures & Short Sales Update
The attractive housing market should encourage prospective home buyers to make their purchase decisions this spring. Timing may be critical in this unique market. Home prices are the lowest in many years. Mortgage interest rates are very low. Low down payment loans are available and qualified first time buyers have available grants to $7,500 to assist with the cash requirements of a home purchase. By the way, first time buyers are defined as those that have not owned a home during the past three years.
All of these positive dynamics are expected to change in the coming months. Lenders are recommending early lock-ins on rates because of the upward pressure on interest rates. The maximum size of FHA loans is expected to go down and the down payment requirements are expected to go up. Conventional mortgage loan fees are increasing. This spring may prove to be the best time we will see in our lifetimes for a home purchase if financing is going to be used.
What's for sale in Washington County? There are 929 homes for sale in the county. 6% of the active listings are lender owned foreclosures and 12% are short sale pre-foreclosure offerings.
Lender Owned Homes: There are 55 lender owned foreclosures (REO) for sale in the county. Click on the listing number for full details on each property. Sort by column headings.
Click the following URL to see the listings:
http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=1135923XDLVP&p=DE-138579725-603
Short Sale Pre-foreclosures: There are 114 active listings of short sales in the county.
Click the following URL to see the listings:
http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=1135923XDLVP&p=DE-138579708-983
During March, 2011, there were 93 closed sales and the average sold price was $135,480, down 12.75% since last year, with an average of 146 days on the market. The zip code reports provide a better picture of the various segments of the market activity in the county. Ask us to email a zip code report to you.
The real estate statistics for the past month may be viewed by clicking on the following link. http://www.rbintel.com/statistics/washington-county-md
Home buyers that plan to use mortgage financing should obtain pre-approval for financing as the first step in the purchase process. The same advice applies to investors. Those without a pre-approval are not considered to be serious purchasers. Please ask for a referral if you do not have an existing relationship with a mortgage lender.
The active listings of homes for sale in Maryland may be viewed on Homes Prospector at www.roykelley.com
Trustee sales schedules and our real estate blogs may be viewed at www.roykelley.net
Please contact us with your real estate questions. Your referrals of friends and family members will always be appreciated.
Blooming for home buyers this spring!
Blooming for home buyers this spring!
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