Realty Insider Blog

There has been a reasonable market activity at the Gates of McLean this year. It seems investors and homeowners are realizing the value of the community - on the last few homes I inquired or put in offers on we have competed with multiple offers with the sales price ending up at or above asking price. There has been 7 homes sold in the first 5 months of the year. The lowest price was a 1br/1ba at $195,000. The max price was a 3br/2ba property with granite countertops at $354,750.

The average price YTD for a 1 bedroom unit is $207,500. The average price YTD for a 2 bedroom unit is $301,600. As mentioned earlier, one 3 bedroom unit sold for $354,750.

Homes on average sell for 91.1% of the original list price. They sell for 94.2% of the final list price. So, if you are looking to purchase in Gates of McLean, it seems that you will be able to get a slight break in price. However, the market has picked up lately and unless you are willing to purchase one of the units up against I-495, you may have to pay closer to the asking price than the statistics indicate. 

Gates of McLean Sold YTD: http://matrix.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Email.aspx?ID=31159444269

If we look at the number of pending home sales at the Gates of Mclean as of 06/02/2009, we get a number of 3. Two of those are 1 bedroom units in the low $200's. One of those appears to be a short sale.

Four homes are currently available for sale at the Gates of McLean. They are two 1-bedrooms at $240,000 and two 2-bedrooms in the low $300's. If you would like the current list of homes for sale, please email me.

To get a better understanding of the overall price curve in the neighborhood we'll need to do some comparison on a model basis. As there has been two sales of the Danielle model(1br) and two sales of the Dalton model (2br) I put together a graph showing those sales in the neighborhood over the last couple of years. It makes it much easier to see what the trend is as the mix of homes sold continuously changes skewing the minimum, maximum and average sales price. I left out the 3 bedroom model as the price has varied a lot on that model. 

As can be seen from the above graph, the average sales price is trending downwards and are back to pre 2004 levels. One bedroom models could be purchased from the developer from the low $200's back in 2003, so many are upside down at this point. There is interest in the Gates of McLean homes for sale and reasonably priced units away from I-495 do sell quickly and with multiple offers.

The current market situation could change if there are a lot of foreclosures coming up, so looking at the upcoming foreclosures on Realist, I found 0 pre-foreclosure, 3 upcoming auctions and 4 bank owned properties. Some of the bank owned properties have already been listed or are already under contract/sold. So, there does not seem to be a flood of foreclosed on units coming up over the next few months.

Moving on to rentals, the prices have remained pretty steady, especially for 2 bedroom units. 20 properties rented so far this year. There are currently 16 properties listed for rent ranging from $1,200 for a 1br/1ba to $2,400 for a 3br/2ba. As can be seen on the below graph, the rents for one bedrooms has declined while it has increased slightly for 2 bedroom units. Rents are typically a bit higher in the summer so we may see a bump in the average by the time we get to the end of the year. Due to the large amount of non-owner occupied units (likely more than 50%) there will continue to be a competitive rental market at the Gates.

For investors the GRM is getting better and better for 2 bedroom units. Due to the 1 bedroom falling rents the GRM is about unchanged from last year despite falling prices.

Gates of McLean is a great neighborhood and the prices are now often lower than what the developer sold them for back in 2003. Coupled with the low interest rates and the potential to qualify for the $8,000 tax credit this is an excellent time to buy. If you would like to discuss selling or purchasing at the Gates of McLean please give me a call.

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