Outside the Capital Beltway the DC area realestate market is crashing? (Reston: comparable sales, real estate market)

[Curious Discussion]

I am looking for houses and I am completely shocked how many of the homes we are looking at have made numerous price cuts since June. I asked a couple of realeste agents about this and they said the market peaked in mid June for all areas outside the Capital Beltway and prices have dropped significantly.

Is this a sign the DC area economy is crashing or that they just bid up prices too high in the last 3 years?

[Carlingtonian]

The economy here is definitely not crashing; there are still more jobs here than most places. Is there a slowdown in the hyper-growth? Probably. As to housing prices, whatever is in over-supply will be cut in price until it matches the demand.

[Curbed Enthusiasm]

I think it also reflects a shift in priorities as younger buyers value city amenities and short commutes over a large house in a distant suburb. Prices in transit-friendly areas continue to increase.

[JfromReston]

Based on more than a decade of watching the real estate market in Reston, June is nearly the end of the big selling season that usually runs every year from February-March until June-July. This year, probably because of the Reston metro station, many sellers got VERY ambitious with their asking prices. Those that were too ambitious are sitting on the market. I expect prices to fall slightly or stagnate until after football season is done. As soon as we have a winner of the Super Bowl prices will take their annual jump upward.

[livinfairfax]

I think this is a normal cycle downward adjustments. "Crash" is a harsh word. We're not back in 2006-7.

[Curious Discussion]

Originally Posted by livinfairfax

I think this is a normal cycle downward adjustments. "Crash" is a harsh word. We're not back in 2006-7.

I have seen many Townhouses, OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY, drop three or four times since June and still no sale.

[Ffxdata]

Townhouses in our neighborhood fall into two camps:
1. Priced correctly and sell within the month of listing.
2. Way overpriced or not presented well generally because of renters still in the unit and stay on the market for months and months.

Homes don't move as quickly once school starts. People try not to uproot during the holidays. There are still houses that are priced right that sell. There is by no means a housing crash.

ETA: the reasons townhouses don't sell as listed above are the same reasons that SFHs don't sell. If you don't like townhouses, why are you so focused on buying them???

[yandex]

Originally Posted by Curious Discussion

I have seen many Townhouses, OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY, drop three or four times since June and still no sale.

That was understood from your initial post, and doesn't change what people are saying. Are you just looking for people to agree with you?

[livinfairfax]

Originally Posted by Curious Discussion

I have seen many Townhouses, OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY, drop three or four times since June and still no sale.

Are you in the market to buy?

Crash would be something like when the mortgages were linked to the financial markets. That's not the case here. It'll go down a little but probably go back up again by 2017.

[JfromReston]

Originally Posted by Curious Discussion

I have seen many Townhouses, OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY, drop three or four times since June and still no sale.

The big question is - are they still priced above recent comparable sales?