Centreville, VA Market Report 8/20/10

The following statistics reflect the real estate market in Centreville, Virginia:

• Homes for sale: 356 (down from 381 in June, and down from 394 at same time last year.)
• Homes Sold: 79 (down from 101 in June and down from 94 one year ago.)
• Average sold price: $367,332 (another jump up from $338,208 last month and WAY UP from $314,426 at the same time last year.)
• Average days on market: 33 (very stable over past six months, but down from 50 days one year ago)

For close to a year, I have been saying that prices in Centreville were continuing to move up after prices bottomed out in December 2008. The increase in confidence paired with amazingly low interest rates fueled a growing trade up market where existing homeowners with equity started selling their house to buy a bigger one. This has helped pull up the average sales price.Even with only a four and a half month supply of houses, I expect the second half of this year to have fewer transactions than the first half because the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit distorted the market.  Markets always swing back to equilibrium if given time and lack of government interference, so I expect that to happen again. The lower price ranges are still hot as a firecracker.

Market data, commentary and statistics provided by David Hess, Executive Vice President.

Search for homes in Centreville, and all of the DC Metro: www.averyhess.com

Germantown, MD Market Report – 8/18/10

Below are the statistics and analysis for the Germantown, MD market:

• Homes for sale: 536 (up from 517 in June. Up from 442 one year ago)
• Homes sold:  86 (down from 128 in June and down from 117 one year ago)
• Average sales price: $284,660 (up from $281,345 in June 2010 and about the same as $283,808 one year ago)
• Average days on market: 52 (up a bit from 40 last month, but still way under 102 days a year ago)

So what do the statistics tell us? Today, we have more inventory at close to the same average sales price as we did a year ago, but it is selling faster. However, due to the race to close in the second quarter, we are currently seeing fewer transactions.

While prices are stable and time on the market is still reasonable, we are without a doubt still feeling the after effects of the tax credit deadline. In order for buyers to get the tax credit before it expired, some third quarter sales were “pulled” into the second quarter.  The “Trade Up” market, where existing homeowners have equity and want to buy a more expensive house, has started and it will also pull prices up as higher priced sales occur.

Since we have a stabilized unemployment rate and low interest rates what I expect to happen is similar to what happened in the car business after “Cash for Clunkers” ran out; the market will return to equilibrium over a three to six month period.

Commentary and analysis provided by David Hess, Executive Vice President.

The Revolution will be Mobilized

I normally don’t get overly excited when I see a new piece of Real Estate technology. In fact, I usually ignore most of the new “cutting edge” technology that comes across my desk; generally what I see is neither “cutting” nor ”edgy.” Most of it consists of a mish-mash of technological flotsam repackaged in hyperbolic cellophane, and trotted out to the masses like a pig wearing lipstick.

But last week, I sat up and took notice. I learned about a piece of technology that has tremendous viability in the Real Estate space. Vyoo. Joel Burslem of 1000 Watt wrote a short post about this company on Thursday, and wow, did it impress.

An offshoot of recent Real Estate mainstay Postlets, Vyoo offers Real Estate professionals a way to quickly create property specific web pages tailored for mobile devices. And to up the technological ante even further, Vyoo delivers that property specific page directly to mobile devices via traditional URL or QR code. In fact, every property specific page created has a unique QR code generated that you can attach scads of pertinent data and information to on the mobile site.

And it’s EASY.

In fact, as a brand new user of Vyoo, my first time out, it took me less than two minutes to set up a listing page from scratch (I do not actively list and sell, so I utilized a property listed by one of our Avery-Hess agents to test the system).  Other than a couple of issues I had with having the Vyoo template grab photos, it worked beautifully. But the part that impressed me the most was the implementation of the QR code.

By simply scanning the barcode with your QR code scanning app (available on most smartphones – I used Blackberry Messenger v 5.0.1.38 to scan the QR code) it opens up the mobile site chock full of information, immediately (seriously, try it with your mobile device on this QR code, you’ll see).

The potential here is immense. Tremendous. As Joel stated in his post, it could kill the traditional listing flyer. I’ll take it one step further. I think it’s like a listing flyer on steroids. And HGH.

There is so much more that these QR codes can deliver content-wise than a listing flyer could ever hope to. Walkscores. Local school information. Recent sales. Market conditions. Percent of list price to sale price in a neighborhood and how it correlates to that specific property.

REAL TIME.

This is important. With almost 50 million users (and growing) of smartphone devices in the United States, QR codes may be here to stay. In fact, google’s Android phones, which did not exist a year ago, now command over 17% of the US smartphone market – a staggering rate of growth in a year’s time. And there’s Real Estate precedent for the usage of QR codes. QR codes are used heavily in Japan and the Japanese Real Estate market. And they can be used for so much more than marketing a listing. Business cards, websites, anything you can dream up online can be attached to a QR code. In my opinion, Vyoo’s Real Estate offering of mobile ready sites, QR codes and ease of use is just the beginning – a great beginning.

-Amit

To learn more about Vyoo, visit them at http://Vyoo.it

Find your home. Plan your life. www.averyhess.com

Gaithersburg, MD Market Report 8/12/10

Since we are talking about Gaithersburg, I’d like to start out by reminding everyone that the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair starts on Friday August 13th and runs for ten days. This is one event that everyone loves to attend!

OK, Let’s get on to the statistics for Gaithersburg.

• Homes for sale: 891 (up from 878 in June and up from May’s 867, down from 907 in April and down from 907 one year  ago)
• Homes Sold: 160 (down from 205 in June, down from 210 sales one year ago)
• Average sold price: $331,238 (up from $329,155 in June, up from $301,689 one year  ago)
• Average days on market: 43 (very stable throughout 2010 but down from 113 days from one year ago)

Inventory is pretty stable, the number of sales per month is down but the time it takes to sell is still falling. These stats say that the market is increasing in strength. But I think that new contracts being written may be slowing some so we may be going into a leveling or small decline in the near term. This is to be expected after such a great rise in prices over the past 18 months.

Commentary and analysis provided by David Hess, Executive Vice President.

Leesburg, VA Market Report – 8/11/10

Time to buy a house? If so, check out Leesburg, Virginia. Why? See the stats below and make your own decision. But it looks good to me….

The figures below reflect the Leesburg, Virginia market during the month of June 2010.

• Homes for sale: 621 (almost the same as 618 in May, and close to the 614 one year ago)
• Homes sold: 126 (up from 91 in May and close to the 132 of one year ago)
• Average sold price: $436.670417,479 (up from 417,479 in May and up from $420,963 in April and up from $410,940 same time last year.)
• Average days on market: 46 (down from 59 in May and 55 in April and way down from 80 one year ago.)

No tax credits, but the sales are still good and prices are stable to rising. Please congress, no more intervention in the markets, We need things to stabilize as they are now doing on their own, thank you very much! The real estate market is getting stronger everywhere in the DC Metro area as stable employment, low interest rates and good consumer confidence leads to a trifecta of positives for the market.

Rockville, Maryland Market Report – 8/10/10

Let’s look at the big picture: Fewer houses are for sale than there were one year ago, but more houses have sold. Houses are on the market for on average a month less than they were this time last year and today’s market prices are about the same or slightly higher. Interest rates are lower and are pretty much at the lowest level they have been in 30 years. 168 people bought a house in Rockville last month, should you?

Market Statistics for Rockville, Maryland:

• # of Homes for Sale: 537 (compare to 525 in May, 537 in April and down from 570 at the same time last year)
• # of Homes Sold: 168  (up from 151 in May, and up from 139 at same time last  year)
• Median Home Price:  $386,750 (up from $375,350 in May, and up from $375,825 one year ago)
• Average days on the market: 49 (down from 53 in May, and down from 75 one year ago). Continued reduction in time on market shows increasing demand.

Why Rockville? Strip shopping centers, large upscale stores and centers, restaurants, hotels, condos, apartments, office complexes, auto dealers, and everything else imaginable are found along Rockville Pike.
The Twinbrook and Rockville Metro stops are easily accessible and the MARC train also stops in Rockville. Rockville Town Center with its restaurants, apartments, condos, movie theaters and shops has brought new life to a once tired area of the city.

Data, commentary and analysis provided by David Hess, Executive Vice President, Avery-Hess, Realtors

Find Your Home. Plan Your Life. www.averyhess.com