Remember how back in April I was writing about how it was slim pickin’s for homebuyers in Ashburn? Yup, that has changed, and dramatically. Since the first time homebuyer tax credit ended on April 30th, our inventory has risen tremendously…there are now more than twice as many homes on the market. Now that we don’t have the tax credit muddying the waters, we should have a clearer picture of where our local real estate market stands. At this point, it means higher inventory, and slightly shorter days on market. Median price is overall slightly higher for condos and townhomes, while slightly lower for single family homes. I expect that until that inventory gets absorbed, we will see days on market creeping up again, while median price settles down a bit. In any case, it’s going to take a little time, now that the spring market is ending, before we see where things are going. If you are thinking about making a move now, either buying or selling, please reach out so that I can give you advice that is tailored to your specific situation.

Cheers,

Heather

Single Family Homes

Condos and Townhomes

The rush is over…to take advantage of the first time homebuyer tax credit, you needed to be under contract to purchase by the end of last month. Since the Loudoun County real estate market got really busy starting at the beginning of the credit, I had a feeling that we’d see some dramatic changes once it was over. Pretty easy to see that inventory levels jumped up immediately, and median price spiked up (from demand) and then corrected back down to where it was before. We’ll have to see what happens over the next couple of months; I’m curious if it will be crickets chirping quiet, or whether buyers that weren’t eligible for the credit will now have homes to choose from.

Cheers,
Heather

We haven’t looked at stats tables for Ashburn in a while, so let’s see what happened with the market last week while we had a whole bunch of snow on the ground:

90-day stats for Single Family properties in ASHBURN, VA as of September 3, 2010
Median List Price:	$587,880	Average List Price:	$644,239
Total Inventory:	297	Price per Square Foot:	$157
Average Home Size:	3,911	Median Lot Size:	10,203
Average # Beds:	4.36	Average # Baths:	3.78
Homes Absorbed:	28	Newly Listed:	15
Days on Market:	108	Average Age:	8

90-day stats for Condo properties in ASHBURN, VA as of September 3, 2010
Median List Price:	$319,623	Average List Price:	$316,563
Total Inventory:	342	Price per Square Foot:	$161
Average Home Size:	1,890	Median Lot Size:	n/a
Average # Beds:	2.89	Average # Baths:	2.71
Homes Absorbed:	34	Newly Listed:	19
Days on Market:	99	Average Age:	9

Interesting..look at the “homes absorbed” versus “homes listed” numbers for both single family homes and condo/townhomes….when they match like that, it means that homes are selling as quickly as they hit the market.  The average days on market still feels high to me when we are seeing that kind of market activity, I attribute it to the short sales that skew the data. If there was a way to separate out “traditional” sales (not a foreclosure or short sale) I bet we would find very short days on market, bordering on seller’s market, because of the low amount of inventory available.

Want market data specific to your neighborhood and home type?  Try out the What’s My Home Worth function to get a customized report. (It’s great, has up to date info, clickable listing information and maps on active, under contract, and sold listings.)

Cheers,

Heather

The spring market is due to start any moment here, just as soon as anyone can dig out from under all of this snow and start selling houses…so let’s take a peek at where the median price is for the different zip codes in Ashburn (keep in mind that condos really means condos and townhomes)…

Welllll, hello stability! Consistent across both zip codes, and for both single family homes and condo/townhomes, median price has stayed very stable since last March, with little variation at all.  Maybe we should peek at inventory, then…

Hmmm. That looks like a normal spring rise in inventory, then dipping back down as summer turns to fall (except for condo/townhomes in 20148, which has been steady).  Truly, there is not a whole lot of available inventory in *any* price point at the moment, so I’m hoping we see inventory climb a little bit soon so buyers have more to pick from!

If you are thinking about selling, and would like more specific information on what your home is worth, please hit the Ask Heather button and send me some specifics. Or, if you are considering buying this spring, you can hit the same button and tell me what you are looking for, and I can help you get a detailed market picture based on your criteria.

Cheers,

Heather

Keep in mind that when the chart says condo, it is actually condos and townhomes. You can see that homes absorbed is a little less than the number of homes newly listed, which means that the inventory expanded ever so slightly this week.

Median Price for homes in ASHBURN, VA All ZIP Codes as of September 18, 2009 is $299,888

Inventory for homes in ASHBURN, VA All ZIP Codes as of September 18, 2009 is 225

Pretty easy to see that prices are nice and flat (read: stable!) for detached homes as well as condos and townhomes. Inventory has climbed just a touch in the last couple of weeks. I\\\'ll be watching to see if this continues, or if this is just a blip on the charts. Specific questions about the market, or want more information? Just hit the Ask Heather button up in the top right!

Cheers,

Heather

Most of the time, when I pull up the statistics for a town or zip code, I can look at different types of statistics and see how they are working in conjunction with each other, and it meshes with what I am seeing in the marketplace. I have to say, though, that when I look at the condo/townhome market statistics for Ashburn right now, I’m left scratching my head….not over the stable median price, or the steadily dropping inventory, but the rising days on market sticks out like a sore thumb! Granted, seeing a jump up from 112 days to 125 days isn’t huge, but if this is a new trend, I can’t tell where it is coming from. If the days on market keep going up, then inventory should flatten out…Guess this is just one stat we are going to have to keep an eye on!

Median Price $299,900

Inventory 217

Average Days on Market 126

Questions? Just hit that Ask Heather button at the top and reach out to me! (Or if you prefer, call me on my cell phone at 571-233-5491 or email me at info@heatherelias.com)

Cheers,
Heather

It’s the end of July and the Ashburn real estate market continues to roll right along nice and strong. Inventory levels are low, and multiple offers are the norm in most of the lower price points (although the multiple offers aren’t causing price run-ups like what we saw in 2004 and 2005.) The statistics below match up well with what I’m seeing in my day to day interactions with buyers and sellers.

To me, the most noticeable point is looking at the number of homes absorbed versus the number of newly listed homes.  (That’s classic supply and demand, folks.) When there are more homes selling (being absorbed) than there are new listings, the inventory is getting lower~~ and it’s already low! The 20147 zip is particularly strong in that area, while the 20148 zip is merely keeping up, or close to it.  The price per square foot is consistent throughout Ashburn, but median list price is higher in 20148 (where the average age of homes is half what it is in 20147).

If you would like free reports emailed to you specific to your zip code and home type, just use the Subscribe Now box at the top right. (Don’t worry, I won’t spam you with anything, I hate spam as much as you. <smile>) And if you want more information, would like to chat with me about your options, or have specific questions, hit the Ask Heather button and reach out! (or call me, that works too!)

Cheers,

Heather

Any working real estate professional in Loudoun County is going to nod their head in agreement when looking at these charts; the real life ‘boots on the pavement’ experience is matching up for certain with what we see on these charts. Ashburn condos and townhomes are definitely selling as fast as they are coming on the market! Before I get ahead of myself, though, let’s take a peek at median price, first…

Single Family Home Median Price

Pretty easy to see what is happening here.. Clearly, median home prices appear to have bottomed in March through May, and have gained steadily since then.  Whether this is temporary or a sign of a true bottom? Time will tell. For now, if you are thinking about buying or selling a single family home in Ashburn, the market is now being labeled “stabilized” and not “declining” by appraisers.

Single Family Home Median Price

Condo and Townhome Median Price by Quartile

What’s a quartile? It looks at each quarter of the market, so that we can pinpoint if one price bracket is performing differently than another. From looking at condos and townhomes in Ashburn, it looks like all four quartiles are performing similarly..and we aren’t seeing an uptick in pricing, right now.

Condo & Townhome Median Price by Quartile

New and Absorbed Single Family Listings

The black line is new listings, and the orange line is listings absorbed.  So when the orange is above the black, homes are selling faster than new listings are replenishing the inventory. This was the case from November of last year through until March of this year.  Absorbed listings started outpacing new  listings again in June, so inventory has tightened up a bit since then.  The spike upwards in absorbed listings the beginning of May coincides with the uptick in median price too..laws of supply and demand, in action.

Single Family Home New and Absorbed Listings

New and Absorbed Condo and Townhome Listings

The orange and black lines have been pretty evenly matched up since March for condos and townhomes, which is probably why we aren’t seeing an uptick in prices right now.  The inventory level feels low to me from acting as a buyer’s agent, so I’ll be watching to see how the median price behaves over the short term.

Condo & Townhome New and Absorbed Listings

If you would like more specific reports emailed to you, fill out the Subscribe Now form at the right (don’t worry, I won’t spam you…this is an information based site!). If you’ have a real estate question, or want my opinion on the market, click the Ask Heather button at the top and drop me a line.

Cheers,
Heather

Ashburn Median Price Starts to Creep Up

Median price is trending upwards across Ashburn, except for condo/townhomes in 20148, where median price has flattened.  Inventory continues to remain low, and mostly flat since March.  From what I have observed while doing business the last few weeks, the uptick in mortgage rates has slightly slowed the amount of buyer traffic and contracts; with the low number of available homes on market, though, the median prices haven’t been impacted yet.

Questions? Feel free to hit the Ask Heather button and I’ll get back to you right away.  If you’d like to receive a detailed market report emailed to you, specific to your home type and zip code, just fill out the form below…keep in mind that ‘condo’ reports are for the whole condo and townhome market:

Cheers,
Heather

Well.. I knew I was having a difficult time locating available properties for buyers in Ashburn, and the current inventory numbers certainly support that.  You can see an uptick between March and mid-May, which makes sense from a seasonal perspective, but it is so far off from the super-high inventory levels of last summer!  You can also see that median price of single family homes has trended UP, yes, UP as a result of the inventory issue.  Condos and townhome median price is up slightly for the same time frame.  I’m curious to see what the one percent swing upward in mortgage rates is going to do to the hot pace of home sales we’ve been seeing here in Loudoun County; don’t know if that’s going to be a bucket of cold water on a market that has been showing some strong signs of recovery…we’ll have to watch what happens with the number of listings sold in the next month.

Single Family inventory versus Condo/ Townhome Inventory

Ashburn Single Family Median Price

Ashburn Condo/ Townhome Median Price

If you would like to receive email reports specific to your zip code, just fill out the ‘Subscribe Now’ form in the sidebar over on the right. If you’d like to ask me a specific questions about these updates, the market, or real estate in general, just hit the ‘Ask Heather‘ button and fill that form out; I’ll get right back to you.

Cheers,
Heather