A year ago, real estate agent Tony Arko could sift through 2,500 listings in Loudoun to find a slew of gems to show clients. But with stressed sellers either pulling their homes off the market or opting to rent them instead, that number now stands closer to 1,000.
“There are plenty of buyers, but low inventory,” said Arko, with Market Advantage Real Estate and a blogger for LoudounStats.com. “The only problem is can buyers wait on a short sale to get approved, or compete with the many offers on foreclosures?”
While still far off from the buying-frenzy heyday of the mid-2000s, Loudoun’s real estate market is showing signs of life, as lower-priced distressed homes are still drawing buyers.
According to the Dulles Area Association of Realtors, 529 homes sold in Loudoun in June, 22 percent more than May, but 12 percent fewer than June 2008. Also, prices crept northward in June by 5 percent from May. However, June’s $340,000 median sale price was still 5 percent off from a year ago. There is currently a 3 1/2-month supply of homes for sale on the market, compared to a 7-month supply last summer.
In more encouraging real estate news, Lennar recently announced it reopened its sales center at the Martin’s Chase development in Asbhurn. Meanwhile, Brookfield Homes has resumed sales at Goose Creek Bend south of Leesburg. Sales had ceased at both developments due to the depressed new homes market.
“I’m definitely optimistic,” said Jackie Lawlor-Campiti, an agent with Jack Lawlor Realty in Ashburn. “There are a lot of first-time homebuyers out there taking advantage of the $8,000 tax credit,” she said, referring to the government program designed to entice more buyers into the market.
In Loudoun, she said, interest is high in homes that are “well maintained” and priced below what they are probably worth.
“When we get a house that is under priced,” she said, “we’re getting multiple offers.”
Many of those “under priced” homes are surely foreclosures or short sales. According to DAAR, 45 percent all sales in the county involved one of these two types of distressed properties in June, down from 49 percent in May.
Arko estimates at least half his sales are either foreclosures or short sales; and foreclosures, in particular, he said, are drawing plenty of interest.
“I had nine contracts on a $700,000 foreclosure in Brambleton,” he said.
Regarding short sales—which is when a home sells for less that what is owed on it—Arko said even more patience is needed by buyers. Last year, banks typically approved short sales in two or three months. Today, the average is closer to four months.
“I have three contracts from April that are still waiting bank approval, and now it's August,” he said.
And while lower-priced foreclosures and short sales are piquing buyers’ interest, homes with larger price tags apparently are not, according to agent Danilo Bagdonovic, also with Market Advantage.
“Despite the majority of the Loudoun housing market showing signs of stabilization, the $1Million+ home sector is not fairing as well,” he wrote on LoudounScene.com. “Inventory is stagnant as is buyer demand.”
To learn more, see www.dullesarea.net/index/.
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