However, it also appears that the last few weeks have seen a few more homes come on to the market, which is not unusual for spring time, so we will have to keep an eye out and see if the increase in inventory levels puts a damper on recently rising prices.
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That post looks at a composite metric for the area, but I wanted to include one graph here that wasn't included on that posting. The graph above is for the past three years and tracks the median asking price of homes for sale. It appears that over the past few months we have seen a bit of a reboun in asking prices as they have been heading up for awhile now. Perhaps that is just a spring bump, but if it helps put our local market into a bit stronger position, then I am all for it.
With a few more months of continued rise in prices, we might actually get back to where we were three years ago. If you read the article I referenced above, it appears that the Bethesda real estate market may be actually preparing itself for little run here, so I would be surprised to see asking prices continue to rise, perhaps even surpassing the highest levesl we have seen since 2009.
But here is one extra graph that we didn't include, and it's a bit difficult to explain, especially the very far right side. Basically, if you read the blog post, at the same time as prices were falling this past year, and inventory was soaring, it appears that Days On Market measurements were falling, which in itself is puzzling.
But then add in our latest measurement, which makes it look like the most recent DOM has just been cut in half, and it gets really difficult to explain. My guess is that this is simply an outlier or anomoly, and that in the next week or so, we will see the numbers level back out.
For more information on Bethesda real estate or any other community in and around the greater DC area, please don't hesitate to visit our website at www.DCRealEstate Marketplace.com.
Over the past 14 years, neighborhoods with thriving small businesses saw an increase in local homes values by 50 percent over non-small business areas or poorly performing small business areas, according to the American Express OPEN Independent Retail Index. The study found that communities with a robust small business scene were likely to see a 4 percent annual increase in homes prices, along with the infusion of 1,800 jobs into their communities.
Susan Sobbott, president of American Express OPEN, issued a statement that said: "This research validates what we know intuitively -- that small businesses are the lifeblood of our communities. There is concrete evidence that thriving independent neighborhoods lead to higher real estate values and more local jobs."Not surprisingly, large urban areas like New York City, San Francisco, and Washington DC (and in my opinion, Bethesda real estate would be no different) fared the best. The most ideal businesses were restaurants and flower shops, rather than law offices or insurance agencies, when it came to influencing the values of homes in an area, the report also said. Unfortunately, what Amex found is that the majority of urban areas have seen the number of bars and restaurants decline by 7 percent and other small retailers by 11 percent over the last two decades. If that trend continues, we can expect the values of our homes to continue to fall. So report analysts say perhaps the best thing you can do for homes in your community is to go out and support those local entrepreneurs who add so much to your bottom line.For more information on Bethesda MD real estate and other communities in and around the Washington DC marketplace, please visit http://dcrealestatemarketplace.com
The Federal Government is desperate to improve the situation of joblessness and a tanked real estate market… but what can they do about it? Doesn’t the market have to simply run its course? Don’t prices simply have to drop? Don’t investors need to snap up as many properties as they can to rebuild neighborhoods? Doesn’t the average American need to buy when they have a job again? There is a new proposal on the table – a Bipartisan Bill that would allow foreigners who spend $500,000+ on US real estate to obtain Visas to live in the United States.
Advocates of the plan say it could really boost the California market, which is attractive to Chinese real estate buyers. Nationwide, sales to foreigners and new immigrants reached $82 billion, up from $66 billion last year, said the National Association of Realtors. Florida and California led these real estate transactions, but Colorado, New York, Hawaii, and Texas will also see huge increases in demand. Sandra Miller, a Santa Monica realtor, said 10 percent of the luxury market is comprised of foreign investors, but offering them US visas to live here could easily triple that figure.
It’s the Government’s hope that these international tourists would take advantage of another offer once here – to get on the fast track for a green card if they invest at least $500,000 in an American business that creates at least 10 jobs.
According to New York Senator Chuck Schumer who introduced the legislation, “Many people want to come and live in the United States. They will be here spending money and paying taxes, and the most important thing is they'll sop up the extra supply of homes we have right now compared to demand, and that's what's dragging our economy down."What do you think? Will this help our real estate market and unemployment rates?To check out what is happening in the Bethesa real estate market, make sure to visit http://dcrealestatemarketplace.com/
This graph shows the Median Action Index, which is a compilation stat assembled by Altos Research out of California for most major metro areas, and which purports to show whether or not a market is in a Buyer's or Seller's market, and how strongly.
A score of 30 on this graph would indicate a neutral market, with anythig below 30 belonging to a Buyer's market. Clearly, that's where Bethesda is, with the most expensive group of homes, shown in black, even further in a Buyer's market than the overall pool of available properties.
The graph above shows the three areas I am most interested in, for today at least, and how long homes for sale in each community are staying for sale, on average. Interestingly, each area now shows that homes are staying active for a shorter time than they were two years ago. This is surprising because their prices have been falling, and there are now more homes availalbe than before. Normally, when we see dropping prices and rising inventory, we would normally expect to see rising DOM, but not so. Interesting.
I know I keep reading somewhere that we are still in a recession and that housing markets are depressed all around the county, but when I see graphs like this one, where asking prices are actually rising for million dollar homes, it makes me wonder whether some of the so called experts even know what they are talking about.
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If you would like to read the full article, please follow the link above, or simply go to www.dcrealestatemarketplace.com where you can read all about market conditions for Bethesda as well as other smaller markets in and around D.C. In addition, we are always happy to generate a new report just for you and your area if you just ask nicely! Visit our site, look around and maybe even leave us a note, we'll be glad to help out however we can.
