Yesterday, I read an article in one of the newspapers that they throw in your driveway. The article stated that the real estate market in Northern Virginia currently was doing well and that prices had risen slightly. I think they should ask a seller who is currently on the market. You wonder how much other information in the paper is erroneus or significantly after the fact.  This article was relevant 60 to 90 days ago. We are definitely feeling the affects of the mortgage business today. This time of the year is usually a good time to sell your home but the market has slowed.  In Herndon/Oak Hill, the net inventory of single family dwellings is at 109 homes - up 7 from last week. There were 8 new listings - 5 of which were homes that were relisted at new prices. Three homes sold - one was on the market 170 days, 2nd on 146 days and one was on 30 days. Hopefully, we will just glide thru the rest of the year without a large inventory increase and have a great Spring market 08.  If our inventory can hold onto these numbers, we should have a great Spring market.

Last year at the beginning of 2006, I listed a home for $625,000. At the time, I told the seller that the prices were falling and that his price was too high. I showed him a recent sold for $600,000. It was his exact model and was in a little better shape. The seller showed me a recent appraisal for $675,000. I told him that I did not think his home had ever appreciated to that value. An appraisal is just someone's opinion - not something concrete. We agreed that we would review the pricing after a few weeks. After about 25 days, we got what I considered a low ball offer of $550,000. I told him that he should counter between $590,000 and $600,000. He was so upset with the offer that he would not counter. When the listing came up for renewal, I opted out since I knew I was not the right real estate agent for him. I knew I could not sell his home for his price and in its present condition.  He used 2 different realtors and 16 months later, he did not sell. Today, on the MLS, his home came up as a foreclosure at $499,900. Very sad. Real Estate is an investment and it goes up and down just like the stock market.  He had owned the house for 15 years and had taken out a home equity loan based on what the appraiser had told him.

Well, another month has gone by. September was definitely one that real estate agents would like to forget. Going into this weekend, we have 107 active single family homes for sale in Oak Hill/ Herndon - which is actually wonderful news - down from last week. There were 8 new listings - 5 of which were relisted. There were only 2 sales - one was on the market 14 days and one was on 68 days. I think that the fact the inventory did not go up is really good news. I think sellers are hesitant to put their home on the market - which is keeping the number low. Noticeably though, the inventory of foreclosed homes is not increasing the market significantly this past week. Although sales are slow - they usually pick up once the buyers feel more comfortable with the market. The realtor traffic with buyers through listings is slow. The open house held last weekend had about 6 people through - 3 of which were neighbors. Although that sounds slow - that was much better than the week before. Looking forward to October!

I think the market in Oak Hill/ Herndon is showing the affects of the foreclosure/financing issues. The everyday person is finding it harder to find loans to buy homes in our present price ranges. There are a total of 102(we broke 100) single family homes in 20171 for sale going into the weekend of the 14th. 4 new listings came on and 2 homes were relisted for a total of 6. Only 3 homes sold this week - one was a foreclosure, one home was a new listing and one was on the market for 170 days. The biggest indicator the market is slowing is that the Open Houses are getting 1 to 2 people in them and the traffic thru the real estate lockbox is down to 1 or maybe 2 people a week.  The interest rates have come down a little - so hopefully, this will get more buyers in the market. The key to this market is to aggressively price your home and have it in the best showing condition.  If you have any comments or want further discussion or information, I am just an email away. Have a great week!

Back to school week. The market did well for a holiday weekend starting the week. We go into this weekend with a net of 99 single family homes for sale in Oak Hill/ Herndon - up 6 from last week. 8 new homes came on the market and the good news is that 6 homes sold this week - which is great. I hope to see this continue and we should have a decent Fall market. Especially, if the net listings stay under 100, prices should remain stable. The only issue still seems to be the homes priced/selling for under 500,000 - they are getting the most competition from the foreclosures - not necessarily from the foreclosures in the Oak Hill zip code - but the high number of foreclosures in North Herndon, Sterling and Loudoun county. A house I sold last year for $505,000 - went to foreclosure, came on the market for 389,000 last week and sold this week. That is a chunk of change lost.

A very quiet week going into Labor Day Weekend. The total net single family homes on the market in Oak Hill/Herndon is 93 - about the same as last week - good news with the foreclosures coming on. A total of 2 homes sold this week - which is the lowest that it has been all summer. 8 new listings came on - about the same. Usually this time of the year is our slowest real estate market - due to the summer hot days and vacations. September picks up as we go into Fall - so I will keep you posted. Any comments, please let me know. Since I am posting this a little late, I hope you all had a wonderful and safe Labor Day!