Monday morning Market update

The sales continue to show a decrease over last year, however, on a more positive side, the decrease seems to be getting smaller.  Are we finally seeing signs of the bottom of the market?  A recent article in the Wall Street Journal seems to see other signs that point to a more normal market.  This process didn’t happen over night so the repair is not going to happen over night.

Most people forget that the current housing bust is nearly three years old. Home sales peaked in July 2005. New home sales are down a staggering 63% from peak levels of 1.4 million. Housing starts have fallen more than 50% and, adjusted for population growth, are back to the trough levels of 1982.

I remember almost to the day when this started, I started to see signs the following weekend after the 4th of July.  The showings on properties came to a screeching halt.  Honestly it was like someone just flipped a switch.  I had a very eager seller, and no explanation on why we went from 4-6 showings on a weekend to almost none.  (his house sold almost year later for $50,000 less than what was expected.)

The county housing reports are out for April.  If you have the time take a look that past reports and you will see a what I am talking about above.

If you need a closer look at a community around you, contact me for a Market Analysis.

Monday Market updates

It’s Open Mic night on Focus On Frederick…I am taking request.  Where do you want to see the next weeks market update?  What neighborhood?  Anyone anyone at all?  Just comment or send me an email.  I will dig up the numbers for the community.

As for today, here is just a snap shot of the county…

• Total Active Homes – 2225
• New in the last 2 days – 17
• Under Contract last 7 days – 40
• Ave DOM for Contract Listings – 116 days
• # of Listings with Various Keywords
  • Short sale – 122
  • Foreclosure – 15
  • Bank Owned – 24
  • Approval – 133
• # listed as Vacant – 338

As for the keywords in the internet remarks, some of the “Short sale” listings said “THIS IS NOT A SHORT SALE” Which makes a big difference if you are buying in a hurry.

Have a great day… and stay dry.

Let’s take a closer look at Middletown Real Estate

To me Middletown has been a wonderful bedroom community to Frederick, Rockville and the Washington DC area. Since there isn’t any major businesses in this community of approximately 3,000 residents, most residents work elsewhere. The schools have claims of Blue Ribbon awards for their excellence in education. The town has excellent proprietors and community driven downtown businesses. (My favorites are The Main Cup and The Middletown Sportsland)

This tight knit community shows it’s pride in their preservation of history, community programs and complete support of local sports (Go Knights). They just recently had elections for their township board. Here’s the results from the Middletown Elections on April 7, 2008.

Burgess:
John D. Miller –610
Phyllis G. Thompson –209

Commissioner:
Dixie L. Eichelberger – 251
Vincent A. O’Reilly – 456
Anthony M. Ventre – 472
Bill Williams – 334

The town and it’s citizens have recently been battling the future presence of Dominion Gas in the Middletown Valley. You can read the press releases on the official Middletown Website. They are facing the construction of a gas pumping station off Marker Road. The concern is the impact on the historic value of the area, along with normal industrial noise and traffic. A grass roots citizens actions committee has been created to combines community efforts for the dispute this projects current placement. Their efforts have been documented on their website; Citizens for the Preservation of Middletown Valley.

As with any community, a poorly place industrial facility can negatively impact the surrounding community(s).

Middletown has wonderful developments like the Glenbrook Golf Community, North Pointe, Fountaindale South, Foxfield, Colebrook and a few of the more exclusive neighborhoods like The Vistas at Springdale and The Legends.

The housing numbers haven’t been too enlightening for this area as the mortgage market has taken it’s toll on homeowners. According to RealtyTrac, there are seven homes in Pre-Foreclosure status, nine with proceedings already taking place for foreclosure and three bank owned homes.

Below is the most recent market activity in Middletown.

Market Conditions in Middletown MD 4/9/08

So what does that tell me? The prices have dropped almost 11% over last year or less than 1% a month. Middletown has been a desirable area but has not been immune to the price depreciation that the rest of the county is experiencing. The absorption rate for this area is 13 months, which is a little higher than the county average. With interest rates still at an all time low, it is a great time to buy, just a tough time to sell if you have either purchased your home in the last few years or if you pulled the equity out of your home.

This chart and others can be found on the Area Prices Page.


If you would like to know what your home is worth, please contact me for a personalized market analysis of your home.

Market Update for Frederick area and Condos

We are in the beginning of the “Spring Market” and things are off to a good start. Creativity is up in ways of getting buyers out of the news medias grasp. Our office has been running very successful “Bargain Bus” by showing prospective buyers area aggressively priced homes whether it’s a bank owned, short sale, or foreclosure. I have heard from multiple agents that showings have increased on their listings, Open Houses are starting to get people back through them again, and the phones are ringing again. The interest rates are still very low for potential home buyers. Buyers that are on the fence need to do the math on the savings of whether to wait for the prices to come down more (or wait for the interest rates to change.)

Here’s a snapshot of the condos around Frederick.

Frederick Condo Market 4/7/08

Have a great day.

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