Sarah Toppins' Real Estate Blog by Sarah Toppins

The Election Factor on Housing Sales in the Washington Metropolitan Area

Sarah Toppins — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 08:03:00 GMT

Every election cycle, potential home sellers ask me whether they should hurry and get their houses on the market to meet the housing needs of the new employees coming in to work for the new administration. And every four years, I tell my clients anecdotal tales about how I've never seen an uptick in housing sales because of an election. I quizzed my colleagues about this and they all agree - elections have never had an immediate impact on the housing market.

This year, faced with the same questions and a problematic housing market, I decided to go back and research this issue using statistics from our multiple listing service, MRIS. I'm only licensed in Maryland and DC, so I've only used statistics from Washington and Montgomery County, MD. (My agent friends in Virginia tell me they don't see an increase in housing sales because of a presidential election, but I don't have the statistics to prove that.

The Washington area changed its multiple ..(read more)

October 2008 Housing Stats for Montgomery County & Washington, DC

Sarah Toppins — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 06:14:00 GMT

The Greater Capitol Area Association of Realtors has released the October housing statistics for DC and Montgomery County and they tell a tale of two "cities".

Inventory in Montgomery County is way down while it's up in Washington. Sales in both jurisdictions is down to varying degrees.

In Montgomery County, sales were highest for both condos and single family houses in May. Inventory was highest in April.

DC is less consistent. More single family houses are on the market now than at any other time this year. The previous high point was in April and then inventory dropped until it started rising again in September. The high point of home sales was in May, but September was also a good month. Condos had their highest inventory in April; the same month that sales were at their highest. Sales have been falling since then at a fairly steady pace. Condo inventory started falling in May and reached its ..(read more)

What I'm Seeing in the May/June '08 market

Sarah Toppins — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 05:54:00 GMT

I continue to be busy, but I continue to have concerns about the market. Let me share with you some of the things that I'm hearing or seeing in the market.

1) Banks are fireezing home equity loans or lines of credit, so if you think you'll need money out of your line of credit for something special in the near future (and the combination of your 1st trust and your line of credit is close to the value of your property, you might want to take that money out now and put it in a savings account. (HSBCDirect.com is paying 3.5% in their online savings accounts, which is FDIC insured.) But if you don't need the money for something specific or you might need to sell soon, don't take that money out because you might become upside down in your property - owing more than you can sell it for - that's why banks are freezing the loans.

2) Interest rates are rising because of inflation fears. I'm afraid that they will continue to rise ..(read more)

April Montgomery County, MD Housing Statistics

Sarah Toppins — Fri, 30 May 2008 04:17:00 GMT

Sales of single family houses in Montgomery County, MD were actually higher than sales in April of 2007. I credit it to a lot of pint up demand plus favorable new loan limits to $729,000 and continued low interest rates.

Inventory is higher than last year and has been rising steadily since December. December was also the low point of sales in the last year.

As I indicated in last post and group email, I'm seeing two markets. Well priced, updated homes in good locations are selling relatively quickly. But lower priced homes, especially those in not as desirable areas an/or bad condition, are sitting. It's really impacting good homes in those areas.

Montgomery County condo sales and inventory are also up. December was also the lowpoint for condos. But condo sales have not been as consistant as single family home sales. April 2007 was the high point of condo sales. They declined until October ..(read more)

Two Markets

Sarah Toppins — Fri, 30 May 2008 03:59:00 GMT

The market has picked up, but buying or selling a house is not a "done deal" until settlement. Lenders are imposing all sorts of new requirements, which change on almost a weekly basis. More buyers are going after FHA loans, and the rains of the last two weeks have left a lot of wet basements requiring repairs before FHA will fund the loan. On short sales, the money for those repairs just isn't available, so some of those deals are falling apart at the last minute.

Yet we are having multiple offers in some areas and with some homes. For a well priced house in good condition in a desirable area, I believe we may have seen the bottom of the market. But in those areas with a lot of short sales and foreclosures, I believe the pricing downfall will last for at least another year. So we really have two markets out there, and it's important for buyers and sellers to know in which market they're working in. I'm working in ..(read more)

Proposed Real Estate Tax on Property Management

Sarah Toppins — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 04:59:00 GMT

Maryland Realtors will be amassing in Annapolis today to protest a number of proposed taxes being considered in this special session that affect real estate. Because Gov. O'Malley's tax package is so broad, there's been little news coverage on these taxes, but you should know about the proposals and pass the information on to your clients.

The state is looking at adding four luxury taxes - one of which is property management fees. This will affect apartment renters, homeowners living in property-managed HOA's & condos, seniors in managed, age-restricted housing, as well as small businesses who lease. The Maryland Association of Realtors is also warning that this is the first step before taxing sales commissions. http://www.MDRealtor.org.

What really makes this tax insulting is that the other three luxuries we are linked with are tattoo parlors, escort services, and massage parlors.

Please ..(read more)

Renting Instead of Selling

Sarah Toppins — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:27:00 GMT

In this changing market, many sellers who are unable to sell their properties are deciding to rent them if they must make a move and are unable to sell the property.

In Montgomery County, MD, the odds are better that a property will rent faster than sell, although there are more rentals coming on the market because of the difficulty in selling in this changing mortgage market.

For instance, today in Montgomery County, there are 367 single family houses currently for rent. During the last three months, 371 single family homes were rented – so we have a pretty even market or a three month supply of detached rentals.

Compare that to the sales market. Currently 3115 single family houses are for sale in Montgomery County and only 671 sold ..(read more)

Washington, DC September Housing Statistics

Sarah Toppins — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 04:51:00 GMT

The recently released housing statistics for August show that listings for both Washington, DC single family homes and condos are up significantly from August while sales are down slightly.

There are some significant differences in the single family and condo markets. Inventory was at a yearly high for single family homes, while condo inventory was higher last fall.

The average and median prices for single family prices continue to climb ($689,766 average and $533,450 median) but the condo averages, while higher than last year (currently $408,436 average price and $364,459 median), are considerably below the highs of 2005 ($428,576 average and $375,000 median).

(read more)

Pricing Your Home to Sell

Sarah Toppins — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 06:33:00 GMT

I was at a real estate conference Wednesday put on by Howard Brinton’s Starpower group (www.GoStarPower.com) with a lot of top agents from around the country in places that have been experiencing a changing or “correcting” market for a lot longer than we have in the Washington, DC area.

They advise that sellers price their houses $1 below the most recent sales price of a similar property. So a seller hoping to sell his or her house “as is” should price his house $1 less than the most recent and closest “as is” sale. A spruced up house would be priced $1 less than the closest, similar spruced up house.

Leslie McDonnell, an agent in the Chicago area, gives here sellers a flyer ..(read more)

September Montgomery County, MD Housing Stats

Sarah Toppins — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 05:39:00 GMT

The Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors (GCAAR) has just released its September housing stats showing that both Montgomery County, MD condo and single family home inventories were slightly up over August, but that contracts continue to decline. September inventory was at its highest in over a year and contracts were at their lowest.

Despite the bad news, average and median prices of both single family homes and condos remain at their highest - $626,091 average and $510,000 median price for single family homes and $326,794 average and $288,000 median for condos.

More details and trends are available at http://gcaar.com/statistics/default.htm.

How mortgage changes might affect our market

Sarah Toppins — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 05:38:00 GMT

I must admit I'm a little frightened about the impact all the mortgage changes will have on the market for the next year or so. But we have survived a lot of other changes in the market, so we'll get through this one as soon as everyone figures out what the new norms are.

Here's what my "crystal ball" predicts. Loans will return to the standards of the mid to late 90's. In order to buy, you'll need to have good credit and some money to put down - no more 100% loans for the masses. You'll also need to show that you have reserves to pay your mortgage if needed. You'll be paying mortgage insurance or a significantly higher rate for a second trust. Conforming (under $417,000) loans will be easier to get and have better interest rates because they are backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I believe the conforming loan rate will be raised to help borrowers in high cost areas like here.

All of this tightening ..(read more)

Montgomery County, MD & Washington, DC February 2007 Housing Stats

Sarah Toppins — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 06:37:00 GMT

The real estate statistics for Montgomery County and Washington, DC for February 2007 are out. My office, which is the number one office for Long & Foster, has been having record breaking months since December. We thought a lot of that might have been pint up buyer interest giving us an early spring market because it was so warm in December and January. But February was cold with a lot of bad weather and we still had a great month. The sales in my office ranged from a $149,000 condo to a $2.4 million house. My personal sales ranged from a $205,000 condo to a $630,000 house.

Across (read more)

Metro Washington, DC Housing Market has already hit bottom

Sarah Toppins — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:34:00 GMT

Former NAR economist John Tuccillo spoke before Long & Foster's Gold Team February 21,2007, and told the real estate agents that the Metropolitan Washington, DC housing market has already hit bottom. Tuccillo told the agents who work in the mid-Atlantic to expect a real improvement in the market during the second quarter of 2007, and that 2007 will end up better than 2006, which was down 16% from the previous year. Tuccillo expects the improvement because of strong job growth in the Washington, DC/Baltimore area. And although he believes the number of real estate sales will be up, he does expect prices to be soft, enabling a lot of buyers who sat out the last few years to buy. Tuccillo expects that 2010 will look like 2004, one of the peak years of the recent real estate boom. That's because people are in their prime buying years. Baby boomers are looking for second homes, investment homes, or their final home. And the younger generations ..(read more)