How Hot is the NoVA Real Estate Market? (Fairfax: renters, mortgage)

[April Whritenour]

Depending on the price point, this market right now is a seller's market. Lower priced properties (sub $300 ish) are entertaining multiple offers w/ escalator clauses; however, seller could still face appraisal issues. Overall, there is low inventory so buyers are scrambling. Historically there is a shift as we enter early summer with inventory increasing and buyers dwindling. We'll just have to wait and see.

[kww]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Why are there so many fewer homes available this year?

I recall more distressed properties last year.. Possible that sellers who were entertaining a short sale are trying to stick it out to see if they can get a bit more for their home to avoid the short. I know of atleast two homeowners in that situation currently.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by kww

I recall more distressed properties last year.. Possible that sellers who were entertaining a short sale are trying to stick it out to see if they can get a bit more for their home to avoid the short. I know of atleast two homeowners in that situation currently.

I'm curious also if many people who need to move are renting out their homes rather than selling them.

[kww]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

I'm curious also if many people who need to move are renting out their homes rather than selling them.

definitely. if you can cover the majority of the mortgage and are comfortable with renters/property management, then let it sit for a year or two and reevaluate

[Fallout Zone]

Houses in my neighborhood have been selling fast, but I've noticed in the last few weeks that the sellers are starting to shoot for the moon on ask prices, presumably knowing how hot the market is. I'm talking full-on peak prices in a neighborhood where we did get hit by 20% or so.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Fallout Zone

Houses in my neighborhood have been selling fast, but I've noticed in the last few weeks that the sellers are starting to shoot for the moon on ask prices, presumably knowing how hot the market is. I'm talking full-on peak prices in a neighborhood where we did get hit by 20% or so.

Wow, back to 2006? If only that were reality. I'm kind of surprised Zillow forecasts only a 3.2% increase in our zip code for the year.

[Carlingtonian]

Houses here are selling within a few days of being on market IF they are priced reasonably.

[Fredesch]

On our street houses rarely went on the market over the last five years, within the last 2 or 3 months I have seen 4 or 5 houses go on the market and I think there may be one that is not under contract. It seems most have an open house and then the under market sign comes out a couple of days later.
We are 2 miles by road from the beltway.

I suggest you look at the last month of the real estate section in the Washington Post. It comes with the Saturday paper, but you may find it online. The post covers the Washington metro real estate market quite well.

[dystopian]

On my MRIS, I have 27 favorites tagged since May 1st. Of those, 9 are CnKO (which means contract with no withe pending contingencies and no kick out clause) and 18 are still active.

I also get the impression there is a ton of building going on in Loudoun County.

[jillybean720]

I think in the sub-$350k market, it was similar last year. I know when we were looking, and that was our budget, EVERYTHING we looked at that we offered on had multiple offers, and some got bid up beyond our budget. The one we ended up getting we only got because the seller had a soft spot for us since I was pregnant! They did have another offer in hand that would have netted slightly more than our offer, but not enough for him to shoot down the young family.

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

I'm curious also if many people who need to move are renting out their homes rather than selling them.

Yes. I know multiple people looking to move who will be renting out their current homes. I'm doing the same - renting our townhouse while we live in our newer SFH. We really had no choice since we are still too upside-down on our townhouse to sell it. Well, we did have a choice - not to move. But our quality of life is significantly improved now that we both live closer to work.