Realty Insider Blog

Investors and homeowners are still realizing the value at Idylwood Towers. There were 12 homes sold during 2009. The lowest price was a 1br/1ba at $159,900. The maximum price was an updated 3br/2ba property at $315,000.

As can be seen on the graph above, the number of foreclosures were up in 2009 versus 2008.

The average sales price for a 1 bedroom unit was $177,550. The average price for a 2 bedroom unit was $213,600. As mentioned earlier, a single 3 bedroom unit sold for $315,000.

Homes on average sell for 92.4% of the original list price. They sell for 96.6% of the final list price. If you are looking to purchase in Idylwood Towers it is important that you work with a Realtor that knows the buildings and can help you determine if the asking price is reasonable.

Idylwood Towers Sold 1/1/2009-2/24/2010: http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=587050XA2RI&p=DE-102620777-956

As of 2/24/2010 the number of pending home sales at Idylwood Towers is 7. Four are 1 bedroom units and three are 2 bedroom units. Four appears to be short sales, one a foreclosure and two are regular resales.

Six homes are currently available for sale in Idylwood Towers. They range in price from a 1-bedrooms at $190,000 to a 2-bedroom listed at $320,000. Two 3-bedroom units are also for sale in the $299,500-$315,000 range. If you would like the current list of homes for sale, please email me at are@tysonsliving.com.

To get a better understanding of the overall price curve in the neighborhood we can take a look at the sales history of the various models. As there has been few sales of the 3 bedroom units, the price trend is probably most accurate for the 1 and 2 bedroom units.

As can be seen from the above graph, the average sales price is still trending downwards and are approaching 2003 levels. The three bedroom model seems to keep its value well but will need more sales to see what the long-term difference is in price between that and e.g. the 2 bedrooms. There is great interest in units for sale in Idylwood Towers and reasonably priced units do sell quickly.

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, 2 upcoming auctions and 1 bank owned properties. Some bank owned properties have already been listed and sold over the last few years. There does not seem to be a flood of foreclosed on units coming up over the next few months. However, there is a sharp increase in short-sales as sellers, Realtors and banks get more experience with them (4 units currently pending sale are short-sales.)

Moving on to rentals, the prices have come down a little bit from last year. 27 properties rented in 2009, up from 21 in 2008. There are currently 14 properties listed for rent ranging from $1,075 for a junior 1br/1ba to $1,800 for a 2br/2ba. As can be seen on the below graph, the rents have declined for all the models (3br seems to have gone up, but one rented last year for a very low price so we are probably back to an expected average for that model.) The large numbers of units currently for rent may drive the rents down further in 2010 but we won’t know until the summer by how much, if any.

For investors the GRM is still getting better but looks to be flattening out. Even though prices have kept falling the rents have also fallen.

Idylwood Towers is a great place to call home and the prices are now lower than what they have been for a long time. Coupled with the low interest rates and the potential to qualify for a tax credit this is an excellent time to buy. If you would like to discuss selling or purchasing in Idylwood Towers please give me a call.

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

There was a steady sales and rental activity at the Fountains of Mclean in 2009. There were 23 homes sold in 2009 (in 2008 22 homes sold.) The lowest price was a 1br/1ba at $182,000. The highest price was a 2br/2ba property at $335,000.

The sales mix remained relatively unchanged from 2008 to 2009. In 2009 about 35% of the sales were foreclosures or short sales. In 2008 only 27% were a foreclosures or short sale.

The 2009 average price for a 1 bedroom unit was $2108,042. The 2009 average price for a 2 bedroom unit was $309,150.

Homes on average sell for 95.0% of the original list price. They sell for 97.0% of the final list price. So, if you are looking to purchase at the Fountains of Mclean, it may be able to get a slight break in price.

Fountains at Mclean Sold 2009: http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=587050XA2RI&p=DE-102955750-179

There are 2 pending home sales at the Fountains at Mclean as of 02/27/2010. Both are lower priced 1 bedroom units with asking prices in the $199,700-$209,990 range. One of them appears to be a short sale.

Four homes are currently available for sale at the Fountains at Mclean. They are two 1-bedrooms at $220,000 and two 2-bedrooms at $339,000-$345,000. If you would like the current list of homes for sale, please email me at are@tysonsliving.com.

To get a better understanding of the overall price curve in the neighborhood we need to do some comparison on a model basis. Below is a graph showing the price trends for all the models over the last few years. I also put in a graph for one and two bedroom units in general.

As can be seen from the above graph, the average sales price is trending downwards and is back to mid 2003 levels. There is interest in the Fountains at Mclean units and reasonably priced units do sell quickly.

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 1 pre-foreclosure, 3 upcoming auctions and 1 bank owned properties. Many of those properties may already have been listed and may already be under contract/sold. There does not seem to be a flood of foreclosures coming on the market at the Fountains over the next few months.

Moving on to rentals, the rents seem to have remained pretty steady. With 37 units rented on the MLS last year (down from 42 in 2008) the competition for tenants have been pretty balanced. There are currently 5 properties listed for rent ranging from $1,200 for a 1br/1ba to $1,650 for a 2br/2ba.

For investors the GRM is still getting better for 1 bedroom units. For 2 bedroom units the GRM is about the same as last year. The 2br sales in 2008 were a bit off the typical long term trend so we are probably back to a more true GRM in 2009.

The Fountains at Mclean is a great neighborhood and the prices are now sometimes lower than what the developer sold them for. Coupled with the low interest rates and the potential to qualify for the $8,000 tax credit this may be an excellent time to buy. If you would like to discuss selling or purchasing please give us a call at 703 560-3424.

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

There has been a high level of activity in Woodburn Village this year. Unfortunately, a majority of the sales are foreclosures and short sales. In the few regular re-sales that did take place the prices and appraisals were heavily influenced by the distressed sales. 39 homes sold to date this year. 9 were regular re-sales, 15 were bank sales and 15 were short sales. As can be seen in the sales mix charts – the number of regular sales are down while there were five times as many short-sales in 2009 as in 2008. Over 3/4^ths of the sales were distressed (foreclosures or short sale.) This amount of distressed sales obviously put downwards pressure on the prices.

Homes on average sell for 96.5% of the original list price. They sell for 97.6% of the final list price. So, if you are looking to purchase in Woodburn odds are that you will be paying close to the asking price.

Woodburn Village Sold 2009:
http://mrislistings.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=587050XA2RI&p=DE-101514271-613

If we look at the number of pending home sales in Woodburn Village as of 02/11/2010 we get a number of 11. They range in asking price from $115,000 to $204,000. 10 of these are short sales, the last one is a regular resale.

Four homes are currently available for sale in Woodburn Village. They range from a 1 bedroom foreclosure sale at $89,900 to a three bedroom short sale listed at $191,000. If you would like the current list of homes for sale, please email me at are@tysonsliving.com .

To get a better understanding of the overall price development in the neighborhood I have put together a small graph with the various models separated out. This makes it much easier to see what the trend is as the mix of homes sold continuously changes skewing the min, max and average sales price.
 

As can be seen from the above graph, the average sales price is still trending downwards and are back to 2002 levels. Based on the last few sales, the number of pending properties and the limited supply If we look at one of the model seales for the year and break it up into quarters, prices last year did appear to increase towards the end of the year (at least for the 2br/1ba model.) However, it does seem that there still is quite a bit of distressed inventory that has to be sold before prices will start rising.

Looking at the upcoming foreclosures on Realist I found 0 pre-foreclosure, 3 upcoming auctions and 5 bank owned properties. Most of the bank owned ones may already have been listed or already be under contract/sold.

Moving on to rentals the prices have gone down a bit on average. There are currently 4 properties listed for rent ranging from $1,195 for a 1br/1ba to $1,795 for a 3br/2ba. As can be seen on the below graph, the rents for most of the units went down a bit this year. Rents are pretty seasonal so the average should go up a bit as we get into the summer.

For investors the GRM is getting better and better. The rents may be stagnant but with the price fall the first few months this year the ratio of rents to purchase price are now back to 2002 levels.
 

Woodburn Village is a great neighborhood and the prices have not been this low in many years. 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 in Woodburn Village please give me a call.

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