The market continues to show that, according to the sellers and the buyers, that the Spring market is here. There has been a substantial increase in numbers of new homes coming on the market. This week, there were 9 new listings for a net total of 40 single family homes on the market in Oak Hill/Herndon. To see those homes, http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=524916XJRPL&p=DE-103643831-251. 3 more than last week - still a very low inventory as compared to a more normal inventory of 90 to 110 homes. It has become a sellers market, eventhough you have not read it in the newspapers or heard it on TV. I put a new listing on John Milton Drive on the market this last weekend. There were 17 agents with clients through the home in 2 days and 20-22 sets of people through on the OPEN house. The house did get a contract - yeah! When the market is not doing well, you have 2 to 4 agents through on the first weekend and 4 to 8 people on an Open House. I feel that the interest rates coupled with the home buyer credit - both about to change - have been driving our market upwards. I would say that you can see a net price increase from January 2009 to January 2010 of about $50,000 plus on a single family home. I am concerned what will happen when the credit goes away and the mortgages back securities are not back by the Federal Government - both about to change within 60 days. Last week, 6 homes sold. To see those, click http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=524916XJRPL&p=DE-103643930-318. 8 to 12 homes selling a week is more the norm for the Spring market but I think the inventory is so low, it is hard to get to those numbers and this may also be a little early. I know myself, I have 2 buyers looking for homes in 20171 and their homes are hard to come by. I had 3 buyers but one bought the really nice listing at 3221 Navy Drive that came on this week. You should see the biggest jump of inventory the week after Easter. All this is based on my crystal ball - sometimes it is pretty cloudy.  
   I have a great new listing that came on the market this week at 12661 Magna Carta Road - see the pictures under "My Current Listings". I will be holding it Open on Sunday 1-4 PM. Please come by.

 

The market continues to do well for the sellers and the buyers are still finding it difficult to find their choice in houses. By the number of new listings coming up now each week, you can see the Spring Market is here - eventhough the snow remains outside and with threats of new snow. We have 37 single family homes for sale in Oak Hill/Herndon - a net jump from last week. There were again, 11 new homes. None of the homes were reissued and none were short sales or foreclosures. To see those new listings, click http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?ID=35411997244. Again, we had 6 homes sell this week. To see those, click http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=524916XJRPL&p=DE-102862396-330. Again, none of them were short sales or foreclosures. So overall, a strong week in 20171 for the real estate market. Last year, we got to where 10 to 12 homes were selling a week so we will see if we reach those numbers this Spring. The inventory is still very low - which makes it a little different than last year. I put a new home on John Milton for sale this week and you are welcome to come by and see it. I will be there if you would like to see the home or have any questions on the current real estate market.

As we recover from the snow, it seems that the market has done a small switch towards the buyers side. Our inventory increased to 36 homes with 11 new homes - nearly 1/3 of our inventory came on this week. You can see the Spring market is on its way. To see the 11 new homes, check them out  by clicking this link http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=524916XJRPL&p=DE-102268179-638. One was reissued, one was a foreclosure and one was a short sale, so a net of 8 new seller sold homes. Our momentum on selling homes has not regained its' strength that it had 2 weeks ago. 3 homes sold and to see those, http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=524916XJRPL&p=DE-102268035-655. One of the sold homes was one of my new listings on Pinecrest. Even with the snow, it had about 10 people through and received 3 contracts. So the buyers are still out there looking. I am hoping to see a lot of movement in the sold category this week since the snow is a little more melted, which makes it possible for buyers and agents to get to the houses.

Brrr! Grrr! Cabin Fever - lots of words being tossed around this week. I hope everyone survived the Blizzards of 2010 and stayed warm. The winter snow definitely put a damper on the showings this week but the market did well despite the impossibility of getting around. There are 28 single family homes on the market in 20171. There were 4 new listings that came on the market. To see those, http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=524916XJRPL&p=DE-101657963-534. I know the buyer traffic this week was way down and am pretty sure the buyer traffic this weekend should be high. There were 3 homes sold this week - which seems impossible - but one I sold as a buyer agent. We actually were negotiating the contract many days before the storm and we ratified during the storm - thanks to email. I am sure that it is the same for the other 2 sales. To see those, http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?ID=35176420884. I would think that we should see somewhere between 8 or more sell this week to compensate for the lower number last week. The only issue is that the inventory is still very low and buyers are still finding it hard to find their home.

The market did well this week for sellers in 20171. There are 26 single family homes on the market - which is too low for buyers to find the right home - which makes the prices stronger for sellers.  Not many listings came on the market with our impending blizzard, so I expect quite a few new home listings will come on towards the later end of this week. As we ease into the Spring market, we should see more competition for the sellers and the buyers will have more houses to choose from. There were 7 new listings. To see those, click http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=524916XJRPL&p=DE-101284670-998. Out of the 7 new listings, one was a relist. Two of them are my listings - both show well and have been updated and remodeled. If you know of anyone looking for great homes in 20171, have them check out my 2 new listings. The great news for sellers was that 7 homes sold this week. I would think it will be a little slower this week as people dig themselves out of the snow. To see the sold homes this week, click http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=524916XJRPL&p=DE-101286001-655. The home on Lockgate place was a foreclosure. It looks to be one of those homes that the seller took out a second and took the money and then the market fell and was not able to pay the mortgage. It was purchase din 2003 for $450,000 and they listed it at $539,000 - so plenty of equity if they had not taken a second. Stay warm and looking forward to clear streets!

Well it looks by the numbers, sales are up and the Spring market has started earlier than the usual March 1st. We have 29 active single family homes on the market this week - so no net increase in the inventory - still a very low number. Buyers are having a very hard time finding homes to purchase. It is a great time for sellers to be putting their home on the market. The prices have risen in the past 8 months. The smallest model homes in Oak Hill were selling at $325,000 to $350,000 in the beginning of this year and are now selling at $400,000. Eventhough there are some sellers that think I can control the price of homes in the real estate market, it is basic economics - supply and demand. If there are too many homes out there and the seller is competing with a larger inventory - that gives the buyer more choices, the seller's price of their home becomes softer and there is a downward pressure on the price. My influence in the market is getting a home in the best condition so it to shows well, marketing the home, and then get the best price out there. There are tricks to getting the home to show well. This week we had, 7 new homes - which is more than we have has so far in one week. To see those, click http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=524916XJRPL&p=DE-100579154-293. None of the new listings seem to be foreclosures or short sales. We had 7 homes sell - which is getting close to the 8 to 12 - when the market is doing great. One was a foreclosure and one was a short sale. The foreclosure on New Concorde was on the market for 43 days with no offers. It is over 2300 sq ft on the upper 2 levels and was priced at $394,900. It needed some work; but for a foreclosure, it was in pretty good condition. It was not selling and the bank dropped it $50,000 this week and it got 10 contracts. To see the sold homes this week, click http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=524916XJRPL&p=DE-100579248-896. If you are thinking of selling and/or are planning to sell in the next 12 months, you may want to weigh the risk of losing value with the possible loss of the government incentive and the interest rates going up in the 3 months. Hindsight is wonderful in real estate. If a seller knew what they know today about the prices of real estate in the last 5 years in Northern Virginia, they would have sold in 2004/2005. If the buyers knew what they know now, they would not have bought in 2004/2005. Interesting paradox.

More new houses are starting to come up as you see an increase in new homes but the inventory remains low so you can see the houses are selling quickly. There are 29 single family homes on the market in 20171 and we had 5 new homes come up this last week. To see those, click http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?ID=34891450818. Four single family homes sold which is a good number as we head into the Spring market. To see the homes that sold this week, check http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=524916XJRPL&p=DE-100023587-103. Three of these homes were on the market less than 10 days. The other was on the market 582 very long days and had a price drop from $550,000 to $499,950 on Friday the 15th and received a contract that weekend. A $50,000 drop in price is pretty steep at this price range. The house was vacant so the seller was shoudering a lot of carrying costs so I feel they dropped it too low all at once and should have brought it down slower in the preceding months to relate to the current market prices. They started at a list price of $649,950 which I knew was way to high at the time. I had showed the home to several buyers. The other issue is that when the house was on the market for 252 of those 582 days, the home had only an exterior picture - a hugh negative in marketing your home through the internet. That home in particular had done a lot of interior work - new kitchen, hardwood floors, nicely finished basement, etc. I hope you are staying dry and if you have any thoughts on this market, just let me know.

The market is off to a strong start. It is not reflected in the numbers but the traffic is up on my listings - which means there are a lot of buyers out there. I had two offers on one of my new listings so you can see the market is much different this year than last year at this time - I think it has a lot to do with the $8,000 tax credit. Only hindsight will tell us. There are 30 single family homes listed in 20171. Of those, there were 4 new homes. To see those, click http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=524916XJRPL&p=DE-99474249-537. The one on Goldenchain was relisted with their 3rd agent and has been on the market 219 days. The home started at $1.85 million and is now down to $1,499,999. I guess the sellers were thinking it was 2005 with the aggressive price. We had 3 homes sell this week - 2 of them short sales and one a seller sold home. To see those, click http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=524916XJRPL&p=DE-99474280-372. Although it was not a good week for the seller sold homes, I think we will see better numbers in seller sold homes this week. I see a lot of activity out there and hope it continues through all of 2010.

Happy New Year!! I am looking forward to a great real estate year for both buyers and sellers. We have 30 single family homes on the market in Oak Hill/Herndon. We had 5 new ones, to see those, http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=524916XJRPL&p=DE-98682356-133. I listed a new home on Kinship this week. I held an Open House. I did a lot of internet advertising and there were 25 to 30 couples that came through so there are a lot of buyers out there. In a more normal market, you might expect 8 to 10 people. Two homes got contracts. The one on Calkins lost their contract so a net of one contract last week. To see those, http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=524916XJRPL&p=DE-98682280-922. We should see more activity as we go through January and get closer to Spring and get out of this very cold winter - stay warm.

$425,000.00 12754 Kinship Drive Oak Hill, VA 20171 Beds: 4 Rooms: 0 Full Baths: 2 Sq. Ft.: 0 Garage: 1 Built: 1975   Remodeled with beautiful Brazilian cherry hardwood floors on the main level. You can walk to the elementary school or the community pool and playground. Open Sunday 1/10 1-4PM This is a new listing that I thought you might be interested in. Visit this listing online to see more photos of the property, Google Earth satellite images, and much more.   If you have any questions about this property or require more information, please feel free to call. Angela Mitchell Angela Mitchell Sells Northern Virginia 7032647877 www.AngelaMitchellHomeSales.com     Visit this listing here