Current Real Estate Data ** County by County Apreciation Rates ** May 2008 ** Nova Prices Continue to Slide (Arlington: rental, condos)

[mojo_1979]

Year over Year Median Price Comparison of all homes sold

Fairfax County......... -13%
Loudoun County......... -19%
Prince William County.. -32%
Alexandria City........ -9%
Arlington County....... -13%
Stafford County........ -23%

Much more info available at the link below...

MRIS Statistics

[scimitar12]

When we first moved here in September of '07, homes in Sterling Park were priced around $350K; a few priced less than that. Almost all these homes were less than attractive to say the least. Now, just 9 months later, it seems these and other homes in the area are now priced at $220-250. That is huge!

[C5Aprea]

Ive had my home listed for four months now. No offers. I have $610 into the house, had it listed for $589 in March, lowered it to $548 in May, to $520 yesterday. Im chasing my price lower to compete with forclosures and still no offer.

I talked to a rental agency today about renting it, and my wife didnt like that option. I wish I did the common this and put nothing down so I could walk away from it, but I didnt.

Looks like Ill pull it off the market and see how things are next year and live away from my wife and family.

Sometimes I hate working for the government

[5stones]

Sometimes I hate working for the government

Do you get a govt buy out?

we did and were in a simuliar situation to you in NOV. We bought in NIv 05 for 500k and took our buy out in Nov 07 for 413k.
Our house was in Exeter and based on your previous post you are located in Potomac Crossing. Potomac crossing was "higer end" than Exeter houses bigger and lots bigger, priced about 30-50k higher in 05. But they have been hard hit. (Heritage HS is one reason)
Our friends took the buy out on thier house in June 07 in potomac crossing...3000+ sqft 5 bedrooms etc...paid 600k in 04 and got a buy out of 435k in 07.

Right now there are a ton of houses 4 bedroom etc...for under 500k. Heck TOLL bros is selling NEW houses for under 500k. that really bites if you are trying to sell a 5-10 year old home for over 500k. (at 10 years lots of maintence issues come up etc... everyone wants new...)

Potomac crossing isn't he Neighborhood it was 5 years ago...you've got Greenway farms, tavistock,Stowers, kincade forest etc... all selling houses under 550k
And Potomac station has a ton of houses for under 500k

I hate to be the realistic one...but it looks like from the listing that the majority of the homes in Potomac Crossing are on hte market under 475k and more are under 450k. A few are under 400k and I'd say those are the foreclousers.
If you want to sell.....it looks like you are going to have to put it UNDER 475K...sorry.

Another killer...and it was for us, is Original owners cashing out. They bought those houses for 200-300k so thye saw thier neighbors making BIG bucks in 2004 some up to 300-350k. So now they want out while they can still get 100k profit out. and are putting thier houses up around 420-430. 100k less than you for nearly the same house!
We did SOOO much work and upgrades in 2 years we lived there and it didn't make a difference. The market is just bad.

GOOD luck and I hope you have a buyer soon!

[mojo_1979]

Originally Posted by C5Aprea

Ive had my home listed for four months now. No offers. I have $610 into the house, had it listed for $589 in March, lowered it to $548 in May, to $520 yesterday. Im chasing my price lower to compete with forclosures and still no offer.

I talked to a rental agency today about renting it, and my wife didnt like that option. I wish I did the common this and put nothing down so I could walk away from it, but I didnt.

Looks like Ill pull it off the market and see how things are next year and live away from my wife and family.

Sometimes I hate working for the government

Good luck if you try and rent. I currently rent a home that is "worth" $500k but pay less than $2,000 per month. There is a cap on what you can charge for rent. It will most likely not cover your monthly expenses. Housing is correcting and will continue to do so until the true value of homes is found. This will be the pre-bubble prices plus the inflation rate.

[Shabba Doo]

Originally Posted by mojo_1979

Housing is correcting and will continue to do so until the true value of homes is found. This will be the pre-bubble prices plus the inflation rate.

Any idea on what would be a good estimate of the pre-bubble price?

[mojo_1979]

Originally Posted by Shabba Doo

Any idea on what would be a good estimate of the pre-bubble price?

Check out another post of mine and look at the data and it will become pretty clear when the bubble began. Find the price point where the bubble began and add about 3% per year for inflation, and then you have a rough estimate of the "real" value of the real estate in this area.

Of course, this is just a rough guideline. Do your homework and you will know when you find a property that is actually priced at its true value.

What you'll see in the post below is that the "bubble" clearly started in the year 2000. That is when real estate began appreciating much much faster than wages... hence a classic bubble.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...continues.html

[jayswife]

The homes are still overpriced imo. I don't undertand older homes being listed for $300k when can I have a brand new one built for that price.

[ACWhite]

Originally Posted by jayswife

The homes are still overpriced imo. I don't undertand older homes being listed for $300k when can I have a brand new one built for that price.

The homes may still be overpriced, but I don't agree about the availability of a $300K new home in Fairfax County.

1) The land alone that a SFH would be on (e.g., if you bought a tear-down) is valued at $300K and up in most places in Fairfax County. In Arlington, in most neighborhoods, the land is valued at >$420K.

2) Most builders here charged $200 - $250 per square foot to build on YOUR land, not including kitchen cabinets and appliances, architects' fees, etc., when I last got estimates. From what I've heard, they haven't dropped these prices even though the new home market has declined, I guess because materials costs have gone up and more people are renovating their current homes.

Fairfax County has among the highest personal and household income averages in the country, and people are willing (and mostly able) to pay a premium to live there due to proximity to DC, school quality, etc.

Costs of condos and townhouses would be a bit less, primarily due to the land costs' being lower, but they still aren't cheap.

So maybe you can get a new home for $300K in Charlotte, but not in a nice neighborhood in Fairfax County.

[C5Aprea]

Well to make a long story short, the agency I work for used CARTUS relocation company which sent appraiser to the house, then a month later turn back and said they could not give me a buy out because the market is falling to quickly.

DO NOT USE CARTUS RELOCATION COMPANY, IVE LOST 10'S OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS BECAUSE THEY SUCK AND NEVER OFFERED ME A "GUARENTEE BUY OUT "

Originally Posted by 5stones

Do you get a govt buy out?

we did and were in a simuliar situation to you in NOV. We bought in NIv 05 for 500k and took our buy out in Nov 07 for 413k.
Our house was in Exeter and based on your previous post you are located in Potomac Crossing. Potomac crossing was "higer end" than Exeter houses bigger and lots bigger, priced about 30-50k higher in 05. But they have been hard hit. (Heritage HS is one reason)
Our friends took the buy out on thier house in June 07 in potomac crossing...3000+ sqft 5 bedrooms etc...paid 600k in 04 and got a buy out of 435k in 07.

Right now there are a ton of houses 4 bedroom etc...for under 500k. Heck TOLL bros is selling NEW houses for under 500k. that really bites if you are trying to sell a 5-10 year old home for over 500k. (at 10 years lots of maintence issues come up etc... everyone wants new...)

Potomac crossing isn't he Neighborhood it was 5 years ago...you've got Greenway farms, tavistock,Stowers, kincade forest etc... all selling houses under 550k
And Potomac station has a ton of houses for under 500k

I hate to be the realistic one...but it looks like from the listing that the majority of the homes in Potomac Crossing are on hte market under 475k and more are under 450k. A few are under 400k and I'd say those are the foreclousers.
If you want to sell.....it looks like you are going to have to put it UNDER 475K...sorry.

Another killer...and it was for us, is Original owners cashing out. They bought those houses for 200-300k so thye saw thier neighbors making BIG bucks in 2004 some up to 300-350k. So now they want out while they can still get 100k profit out. and are putting thier houses up around 420-430. 100k less than you for nearly the same house!
We did SOOO much work and upgrades in 2 years we lived there and it didn't make a difference. The market is just bad.

GOOD luck and I hope you have a buyer soon!