Middletown Housing Market and the Glenbrook community

It has been a while since I have taken a close look at the Middletown market and posted it here.  I have had some recent inquiries in this area.  That’s a good sign…inquiries that is.  Activities have started to pick up all over the county.  With the latest stimulus package offering $8,000 tax credit to first time home owners, it should help a few people get off the fence.  In my opinion, there still needs to be some hard work done to keep home owners in their house.  I have written plenty of articles about Short Sales and foreclosures in the area…what I have learned about them over the last few years, the banks don’t know how to make a decision quickly.  Once they are foreclosed, they are able to make quick decisions.  The main reason is that they turn them over to third party asset managers. They should consider this for short sales as well.  I think they would make more money or at least minimize their loss.

So why am I talking about short sales in Middletown?  Because they have their share of them.  Just looking at the Glenbrook Community, there are five out of twelve homes listed are either short sales (“subject to third party approval”) or bank owned already.   Here’s the most recent activity in Glenbrook.

No matter how nice the community, today’s economy has an impact on everyone.   Below you will see some numbers of the whole Middletown area.  You will see some major price drops over last year and also much longer market times.  (you can click here for last years update)

Market Conditions in Middletown MD 2/23/09

If you would like to see the list of homes that make up this report you can check that out here.  This will give you an idea of the homes in zip code 21769.  If you would like a more personalize report specific to your home and neighborhood, feel free to contact me.

Have a great day.

2008 in a handbag – Where has the year gone?

Some of the year end numbers have finally posted and what a year it has been.  The actual totals will be all available next month for close out purposes, but I have pulled some of the statistics from MLS myself.  The December Housing report for Frederick is done and you can see it here.  We finished on a positive note with a 32% increase in Contracts over last year.  Inventory levels are promising as well by show less than last years trends.  Sales were only off by 6.5% from last year.  Will this carry over into 2009?  Sure it will.  I am sure we will see some flashes of hope with some discouragement, but we will make it through the end of the housing bust.

This wasn’t a bad year for me nor has it been a great year.  There were approximately 1300 REALTORS® in Frederick County (not counting the agents from adjoining counties that do business here) prying for almost 2100 sales in 2008.  (I must remind you, these are not official only very close approximates.)  I was fortunate to eight sales of my own.  Majority of this year’s business for me had been below $300,000 in within walking distance to downtown Frederick.  It seemed to me the upgrade from the town house to a larger single family was very scarce.  Condo prices just weren’t low enough for sales.    But again it was the overall inventory that hampers the sales along with the large amount of short sales and foreclosures.  The tightening of the purse strings by the fearful banks didn’t help either.  But as a local appraiser has said before, it is all about the inventory levels.   We need to get below 1100 to be healthy.

This market has had it’s toll on local real estate companies as well as agents.  Plenty of local offices shut their doors or consolidated in other locations.   I have seen remodeling companies increase thier business as people are staying put in their current digs.  This market has had it’s challenges for the builders as well.  They don’t have any traffic in their developments and have had to lay off many workers.  In years past, it would take more than six months to build a house.  Now they are able to build it much quicker due to the amount of available workforce.  It is only the permitting process that slows them up.  Another reason to buy if you can do it.

May Housing Market Update

The monthly housing report is finally out for May. I am glad to see the inventory lower than last year.  This is one item that has to be inline for the market to return to normal.  Hopefully we will continue to see this trend in the market.  Looking at the prices, we are below 2005 prices.  This is very unfortunate for everyone that has bought at the top of the market in 2005-2006.

Now, for those homeowners that have purchased prior to 2004; Don’t cry too much… you are still seeing approximately 14% appreciation.  Fourteen percent!!! That falls inline with normal appreciation or 4-6% a year.  Unfortunately, some homeowners took advantage of the steep appreciation and cashed out on Home Equity line of credit.  So in this case, you over spent your appreciation.

Just remember, in a normal market, homes will appreciate at very similar rate as your income.  When they don’t parallel each other…you’re gonna have problems.

Have a great day…things are really picking up around here.

Galyn Manor Brunswick MD Housing Report

When it comes to real estate in Frederick County, one of the most popular commuter locations has been Brunswick MD. The prices in this area have been relatively lower than the rest of the county. It’s very convenient to the MARC train. And with the price of gas today, you need to have options available.

One of the newer communities in Brunswick is the Galyn Manor development. It has almost 300 homes and was built back in the 2003. You will find homes built by Pulte, NV homes and Ryan Homes. Here’s a look at what is happening in that development.

All though the average time on market is almost five months; the SOLDS were only 77 days. This tells me two things; they were priced appropriately and in great condition (or price adjusted to make the condition a non-issue.)

I have always liked the Brunswick area. I believe it will become a major landing spot for the whole DC Metro area. It is already close to some major towns like Leesburg, VA and Frederick, MD. It’s a quick drive into Rockville, MD too and did I mention the Potomac River? This area of Brunswick really needs to be the focus. It worked (or at least is beginning to work for the Carroll Creek Area) You have the C&O Canal National Park run through here too.

Here’s a little Virtual Tour of Brunswick MD

Have a great day…and don’t forget to give me a call if you have any questions.

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