Realty Insider Blog

The sales activity in 2010 at the Gates of McLean is on track to be better than in 2009. With the metro and new noise barriers being constructed the community is just getting more and more attractive. There were 18 homes sold in 2009 - in the first half of this year 13 units sold - likely at least partially due to the homebuyer credit. The lowest price was a 1br/1ba foreclosure at $193,000. The highest price was a renovated 3br/2ba property with granite countertops at $368,000.

The sales mix changed from 2009 to the first half of 2010. In 2009 about 40% of the sales were foreclosures or short sales. This year about 30% are - we will have to wait until the end of the year to see what the final mix will be.

 The 2009, the average sales prices were:
1 bedroom unit = $212,667
2 bedroom unit = $309,233
3 bedroom unit = $356,917

In 2010 YTD, the average sales prices were:
1 bedroom unit = $213,871
2 bedroom unit = $333.750
3 bedroom unit = $356,500

So, one average for the first half of this year, prices are up over last year by quite a bit for 2 bedroom units and pretty much remained flat for 1 and 3 bedroom units. As the homebuyer credit expired 4/30/2010, I broke up the first half into two quarters to see if anything happened to the market after the expiration on the credit.

The second quarter prices and activity is likely still influenced by the homebuyer credit as closings typically take 30-60 days. Regardless, keep reading and look at the graphs further down and you'll see something interesting...

Homes this year on average sell for 100.00% of the original and list price. So, if you are looking to purchase in Gates of McLean, you will often pay asking price or above. In 2009 units sold at about 96% of the asking price so sellers have gotten better at pricing their units this year (or demand has increased.)

There are 3 pending home sales at the Gates of Mclean as of 7/10/2010. Two are 1 bedroom units in the $195,000-$229,900 range. Two of them appear to be short sales.

Regarding foreclosures and short sales: I looked in the Realist system and found 0 pre-foreclosure, 5 auctions and 3 bank owned properties. Some of the bank owned properties may already be listed or may already be sold. However, based on those numbers it seems to be more foreclosures coming on the market over the next few months.

If you have negative equity in your home and you are considering a short-sale or a foreclosure (or you just don't know what to do), please give us a call. We are working on our second short sale at the Gates of McLean and will be happy to talk to you.

Two homes are currently available for sale at the Gates of McLean. One is a 1-bedroom unit at $259,900 and one is a 3-bedroom unit at $379,000.

To get a better understanding of the overall price curve in the neighborhood we will first look at some specific models. The Danielle model (1br) and the Christine model (3br) are two popular models that usually have at least a few sales every year. I put together a graph showing sales of those two models below.

As can be seen from the above graph, the average sales price trended downward until the 2008-2009 timeframe. Since then the prices have stabilized but the overall trend is inconclusive based on the above graph. 

If we look at the average price regardless of model the current market seems to make a bit more sense:

After hitting a bottom in 2008/2009 prices went up until the end of the first quarter of 2010. In the second quarter they lost some of the gains they had made. Prices are still above the earlier lows though - and the market activity is great with units selling quickly (albeit at lower prices.)

Apart from a tightening of appraisals, the high investor ratio at the Gates of Mclean keeps making things difficult for purchasers. Due to the ratio being high, finding a lender to finance a purchase often proves challenging with many demanding a 20% or higher down payment. Requiring  that amount of down payment eliminates a lot of first time (and repeat) purchasers that would normally use FHA loans(3.5% down payment.)

The dataset for the above graphs is still small - so the actual trend won't be clear for some time yet.

Moving on to rentals, the rents remained pretty stable and may be climbing slightly. With 20 units rented on the MLS the first six months this year (61 rented total in 2009) the competition for tenants may have been a bit less and could be contributing to the slight uptick in rents. There are currently 8 properties listed for rent ranging from $1,275 for a 1br/1ba to $2,000 for a 3br/2ba.

For investors the GRM is a bit up and down but is again getting more attractive to investors due to slightly higher rents and price decrease in Q2. 

Gates of McLean is a great neighborhood and the prices are still often lower than what the developer sold them for back in 2003. With the metro coming soon, the Gates of McLean is just getting better and better! If you would like to discuss selling or purchasing at the Gates of McLean please give us a call at 703 560-3424.

Are Andresen
Broker, Soldsense Realty LLC
"Your sixth sense in real estate"