Posted on September 15, 2011 by Corey Hart
Sep

15

2011

9/15: Tweet from (Brian Block, Managing Broker, RE/MAX Allegiance): 

"had client thought they could take 10% off listing price because that was their market in midWest. 'scuse me. Not in NoVa!"

 

One of the reasons we dig Twitter is the insight it provides into the interactions between top producing agents/brokers and their clients. The tweet above is a good example. Thanks to a strong jobs market, thousands of homebuyers flock to NoVa each year from a variety of different real estate markets. This can inevitably lead to some naivete in their expectations of the local market that can potentially require some kid gloves in order to not damage egos. One thing the tweet didn't provide visibility into (not that it could in 140 characters or less) is how Brian handled the initial offer ideas of his relocating client. I can guess, though. Brian is one of RBI's earliest adopters, so he likely had a chart like this shown on his iPad in a matter of seconds:

 

Even in the "dark days" of early 2008, the Northern Virginia market didn't see seller's agreeing to 10% off their original list price very often. Let's assume, hypothetically, the client still doesn't want to inch back toward a realistic offer. "But this is a distressed unit, that has to be worth knocking something substantial off of the offer".  Well, no...

 

Comments: 2 |
rbiEXPERT, rbiPRO
Posted on September 12, 2011 by Corey Hart
Sep

12

2011

Pending Sales Activity During Month Showed Seasonal Trends

 

Rockville, MD (September 12, 2011) – The following analysis of the Washington, D.C. Metro Area housing market has been prepared by housing market expert Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel, based on the August 2011 RBI Pending Home Sales Index™ released today:

View PDF version of this press release

 

OVERVIEW

The summer home sales season in the Washington, D.C. metro area market finished with the highest number of signed contracts for August in four years.   There were 4,169 contracts signed in August 2011, 8.6% less than the 4,563 contracts signed in July, but consistent with seasonal trends.  New pending sales were 19.9% above the August 2010 level but that increase is exaggerated due to the dearth of activity in the months following the expiration of the federal homebuyers tax credit in April 2010.   The median sales price for August 2011 showed a similar seasonal pattern, declining 3.8% to $356,000 from $370,000 in July 2011 but was essentially unchanged from August 2010. 

 

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Corey Hart
Sep

12

2011

Median Sales Price Also Outperformed Seasonal Expectations

 

Rockville, MD – (September 12, 2011) – The following analysis of the Baltimore Metro Area housing market has been prepared by housing market expert Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel, based on the August 2011 RBI Pending Home Sales Index™ released today:

 

View PDF version of this release

OVERVIEW

Baltimore area home sales enjoyed their best August in five years as buyers took advantage of affordable prices and record low interest rates.

While August  pending sales  of 2,365 was 1.7% below the July 2011 total of 2,407, the current decline was well below the 6.9% average month-over-month decline of the past 5 years and the 4% average month-over-month decline of the past ten years. 

Median sales price also outpaced seasonal patterns, rising 4.4% to $235,000 in August from $225,000 in the July .  For the past ten years, median sales price has slipped an average of 0.5% from July to August.

 

Posted on September 07, 2011 by Corey Hart
Sep

07

2011

Though a core part of our mission here at RBI is to provide stats and trends as they pertain to the local real estate market, we are mindful to keep an eye on what is happening at the national level as well. We've recently begun frequenting the Economists' Outlook, the National Association of Realtors® blog containing timely and comprehensive analysis of national market trends. A recent post by George Ratiu contained some interesting insights about first time home-buyer trends.


While the investment property buyer makes up nearly 20% of the general homebuyer group, 4.1% of first-time homebuyers in July purchased a home for investment. Ratiu attributes this in part to the historically low interest rates and high affordability. This number is line with the average for the year of 4.2%, but it is up from the 3.6% figure for July of 2010. Click here to see the entire post on NAR's site.

 

market analysis
Posted on August 17, 2011 by Corey Hart
Aug

17

2011

Visit the Videos section to view the video for your region. You can view the NoVa video below

Don't forget that you can upload these videos to your blog, website, and Facebook to keep your friends and clients engaged!

 

market analysis, videos

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