Archive for February, 2008
4 Statistics Waiting Buyers Should Know
February 20th, 2008 categories: Local Issues, Market Statistics
There is a lot that economist look at when forecasting the growth or decline of a real estate market.
Here are four stats that reveal the PENT UP activity taking place in our current market taken from the past couple of years. These stats are taken from an article written by Lawrence Yun, Cheif Economist with the National Association Of Realtors. You can read the whole article here.
1. Net job gains have increased by 4.3 million according to both company payroll data and household survey data.
2. U.S. aggregate personal income has risen by $1.4 trillion over the past two years.
3. These job gains should have translated into 2 million additional homeowners, however there were only 600,000. During the same time period, housing affordability has improved, income has risen, and conforming mortgage rates are near a historic low.
4. With normal population and job increases, household formation typically expands by 1.2 million to 1.5 million a year.
These stats obviously reveal that many buyers are holding out for the right time to buy. The question is, what will be their sign? When will they know it is time to buy?
My assumption is that we will not see a huge increase in purchasers until they see that prices are stabilizing.
Lawrence Yun, Cheif Economist says, “Though pent-up demand clearly exists, it is still tricky to anticipate when a meaningful recovery will take place. I do not foresee any major existing-home sales declines from this point onwards, but sales could remain at their current soft pace for a while. Will it be spring or summer or fall when we will see a notable pick-up in home sales? Difficult to say, but it will happen in 2008.”
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Ashburn’s New Retirement Community
February 19th, 2008 categories: Adult Living, Community Of The Week, New Construction
In the past few years we have seen the growth of Ashburn’s Active Adult Community. I guess its time to consider moving the family closer which is a good sign that many people are starting to see this area as home.
Erickson Retirement Communities which has developments in locations such as Springfield, VA and Silver Spring, MD have seen the early opportunity to take advantage the growth of Loudoun County. Erickson is opening up a huge 132 acre Retirement Community in Ashburn off of Loudoun County Parkway across from the new water treatment plant called Ashby Ponds.
This is expected to be everything you would need in one place. They are planning such amenities such as an aquatics center, bank, game room, cafe, hair salon, dining room, medical center, fitness center, arts studio, and more.
This photo was taken of Ashby Pond’s new campus currently under construction.
Also Read: Communities Of The Week: Ashburn’s Adult Communities
If you want to find out more about other Active Adult communities in Ashburn contact me.
If you are interested in learning more about Ashby Ponds you can visit their website.
| Discussion: 1 Comment »
Why 100% Financing Is Saying Goodbye
February 17th, 2008 categories: Buyers, Market Statistics, Real Estate News
With the ever increasing lending restrictions being tightened, FANNIE MAE (Federal National Mortgage Association- the guys that buy a lot of the mortgages and set most of the lending guidelines) has once again made it a little more difficult for some to grasp the goal of home ownership.
They are in the process of judging markets across the United States and deciding if they are considered Declining or NOT. Just for your information, Loudoun and Fairfax have been flagged as DECLINING. Yikes. Well, lets be honest, we all knew this.
Fannie Mae does not currently buy loans over the conforming limit of $417,000. This does not mean that they will not provide financing for homes in a declining market. It only means that they will not provide ONE HUNDRED PERCENT FINANCING for homes in a declining market. Most lenders will now require at least 5% down.
Many buyers should consider FHA loans which have tight restrictions but will allow 3% down and will work with rough credit.
For more information about this issue which we have yet to see play out check out this Fannie Mae website HERE.
Lets pray that this will help in the long run, but I fear that the issue isn’t as much about current buyers put previous buyers with bad loans.
| Discussion: 1 Comment »
Avoiding Foreclosure
February 16th, 2008 categories: Short Sales & Foreclosures
If you are on the verge of loosing your home to foreclosure or defaulting on your loan, there is help.
You can contact PROJECT HOPE. A voluntary alliance of major lenders who have agreed to assist qualified homeowners who are on the verge of default do to adjustable rate mortgages (ARMS).
Their Phone number is 888-995-HOPE.
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Who Is The Best Builder? JD Power Rankings
February 15th, 2008 categories: Buyers, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, New Construction
Many builders in the area use the rankings of JD Power to rate their quality. I thought you may find it interesting to know what local builders rank the highest. This list covers all of the DC area.
Click HERE for the ratings.
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Someone At The Bank Is Losing It…
February 14th, 2008 categories: Local Issues, Real Estate News, Short Sales & Foreclosures
I don’t claim to understand all of the process that a bank goes through when foreclosing on a home.
Here is what I do understand…
A lot of them gave out loans that they shouldn’t have, to a bunch of people that shouldn’t have been able to get them. Fine. We all make mistakes and some buyers have dug their own ditch. So, both parties are responsible and we have to get passed pointing fingers and start coming up with solutions.
We don’t just have people who couldn’t afford their payments. We have people who can’t afford their payment once their ARM (adjustable rate mortgage) expires. You say… Why don’t they just refinance? Good question. The answer is that they can’t refinance because the home will not appraise for what they owe on it so a lender will not give them another loan. That sucks.
So, what happens?
People stop making payment and end up in some level of foreclosure. When this happens to A LOT OF PEOPLE we end up where we are right now. In a recession because so much is tied to housing.
It seems to make a lot of sense that instead of banks loosing thousands and thousands of dollars on these foreclosures that they would just contact the owner of the home and re-negotiate the loan or extend the lock on the ARM. I know this can’t work for everyone but it would help. Its better to loose a little than a lot.
There are a lot of first time buyers that like the prices on these homes but are having a difficult time getting them financed because the bank won’t give a loan on a home that is in such poor condition (most are). It also takes SOOOOOOO long to get answers and responses from banks when putting in an offer on the homes.
So, the circle continues. Too much inventory, buyers can’t get loans as easily, homes won’t appraise for re-financing so people loose more homes.
I think a really good start would be for banks to have enough people on hand to handle these issues.
| Discussion: 2 Comments »
The Numbers: Loudoun County Statistics
February 13th, 2008 categories: Market Statistics
This blog is very new so forgive me that it is almost the middle of the month and you are just now seeing January Statistics for Loudoun County. I will do better next time.
As expected, January was not the greatest month for home sales. In fact, it is very obvious that 2007, though rough, had a better start that this year.
The ugly news (besides prices)…
1. There were less units sold than last year.
2. There are more homes for sale now than then.
This could be the worst statistic. Too much supply. Too little demand.
The one difference is that most of sales are foreclosures or short sales. Once these clear out we should be in better condition.
The good news….
1. It is taking less days for homes to sale.
Good job sellers. Price it right in the beginning and it will sell.
| Discussion: 2 Comments »
Tomorrow Matters For Virginia: Poll Locations
February 11th, 2008 categories: Local Events, Local Issues
Usually after Super Tuesday it doesn’t really matter what state primaries are left. In fact, I can’t even remember primaries being that big of a deal in the past but now they are.
I will resist promoting my political opinion but I do encourage you to take advantage of the freedom that we have to vote by heading to the polls today.
If you are looking for the correct location to go:
Loudoun County click here
Fairfax County click here
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New Windermere Community In Ashburn
February 10th, 2008 categories: Buyers, Community Of The Week, Loudoun County, New Construction
One of the areas of real estate that I enjoy keeping up with is new construction. New construction in the Northern VA is nothing new and it seems like every day there is a new development sign going up.
With this blogsite, I intend to keep you up to date on new areas to look out for.
This week, I want to introduce you to a new community in Ashburn called “Windermere” by Pulte Homes. It is located at the intersection of Croson Lane and Claiborn Parkway. Or, just south of Broadlands South and west of Amberleigh Estates.
There will only be 187 homes built. 103 towns and 84 single families. The first deliveries will be in the March time-frame.
I am a personal fan of Pulte Homes. They typically build a quality home and have a lot of standard features that you don’t pay extra for. They also have a pretty strong rating from JD Power.
Town-homes range from Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: 5 Comments »
One Good Thing About Declining Home Values
February 9th, 2008 categories: Buyers, Local Issues, Loudoun County, Real Estate News, Sellers
When you live in a town home, yelling up the stairs becomes an accepted form of communication. I found our new county tax assessment in the mail this morning so I yelled upstairs to see if there was any other surprises that came with it. Not a chance. I was encouraged to see that the value was dropped in the eyes of the county.
Fine by me… However, more important than the value dropping is the county dropping me a check in the mail refunding the extra that I paid this year. I won’t hold my breath on that one.
You should be receiving yours also if you live in Loudoun County if you haven’t already.
After looking it over, you will probably notice one thing…
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