What is going on with home prices in Manassas? (Manassas Park: foreclosures, loan)

[weisla]

I am moving back to the area after living on the West Coast and I am shocked to see the dramatic price drops on some properties in the Manassas area. I recognize from reading other posts that some of the areas (eg. Manassas Park and Georgetown South) are less desirable, but even so I am seeing listings that last sold over $300K on the market for under $100K. Any idea what is causing the precipitous price drops there?

[ACWhite]

Lots of foreclosures.

You might be interested in sites like this:

Northern Virginia Housing Bubble Fallout

[weisla]

Thats what I suspected, thanks for the link! I guess people were driving to qualify for homes they just couldn't afford. Seems like there was some really irresponsible lending going on there.

[car54]

Originally Posted by weisla

.....Seems like there was some really irresponsible lending going on there.

"there"? You have to be kidding....irresponsible lending caused the entire national mess!

And the worst of it swept eastward from the West Coast. Ever heard of IndyMac? Countrywide? Golden West? Or any of the dozens of other now-failed west coast sleazy loan factories?

I think those million dollar plus 800 sq ft bungalows in Cali ought to be getting cheaper too, eh?

[VRE332]

Originally Posted by car54

"there"? You have to be kidding....irresponsible lending caused the entire national mess!

And the worst of it swept eastward from the West Coast. Ever heard of IndyMac? Countrywide? Golden West? Or any of the dozens of other now-failed west coast sleazy loan factories?

I think those million dollar plus 800 sq ft bungalows in Cali ought to be getting cheaper too, eh?

Car54 how could you post such nonsense on the board. Don't you know it was caused by little green men from Manassas Park who invaded our banks?

[weisla]

Originally Posted by VRE332

Car54 how could you post such nonsense on the board. Don't you know it was caused by little green men from Manassas Park who invaded our banks?

Of course I am aware of the national lending crisis fueled by wildly irresponsible lending. My point was that if foreclosures are singularly responsible for the extremely concentrated pockets of dramatic price drops in those Manassas neighborhoods (as you claim) that there is likely an explanation. What I was curious about is whether there is some reason other than the patently obvious national lending crisis adding to the particularly dramatic price drops there - even in the worst pockets of foreclosure in California, Colorado, Florida, etc it would be unusual to see such widespread 75-80% price drops. But thank you for your oh so helpful comments so in the spirit of these forums.

[car54]

Originally Posted by weisla

Of course I am aware of the national lending crisis fueled by wildly irresponsible lending. My point was that if foreclosures are singularly responsible for the extremely concentrated pockets of dramatic price drops in those Manassas neighborhoods (as you claim) that there is likely an explanation. What I was curious about is whether there is some reason other than the patently obvious national lending crisis adding to the particularly dramatic price drops there - even in the worst pockets of foreclosure in California, Colorado, Florida, etc it would be unusual to see such widespread 75-80% price drops. But thank you for your oh so helpful comments so in the spirit of these forums.

Well, there is one other factor in play in Prince William County. The County Board enacted a crack down on illegal aliens which has allegedly led to an exodus of said aliens. Many of these folks owned houses (upside down) and the County gave them another reason to walk away.

[mojo_1979]

Originally Posted by weisla

I am moving back to the area after living on the West Coast and I am shocked to see the dramatic price drops on some properties in the Manassas area. I recognize from reading other posts that some of the areas (eg. Manassas Park and Georgetown South) are less desirable, but even so I am seeing listings that last sold over $300K on the market for under $100K. Any idea what is causing the precipitous price drops there?

Simple. The price of housing is correcting back to a price that the wages in that particular area can support. This is happening all over Northern VA and across the nation.

[barryhussein]

Let's just say if the price charts were a ski slope--it would truly be "experts only."

[VRE332]

Originally Posted by barryhussein

Let's just say if the price charts were a ski slope--it would truly be "experts only."

Let's say if Dumfries and Manassas combined, and they changed to Dumassas.