Short-lived opportunity for Buyers?

Although the Bears out there will find plenty to suggest a long Winter ahead for Home Sellers, with a lot of news swirling around regarding the "bursting housing bubble", this buyers-market opportunity (specifically in the Metropolitan Washington D.C. area) may only be a short-term correction, and short-lived at that, according to a local economist....so now's the time to buy!

- Ingrid Myers - trusted, experienced Realtor with over 20 years Northern Virginia local Real Estate market knowledge and insight.

RISMEDIA, August 11, 2006—With a few notable exceptions, homes sold in the Greater Washington, D.C. Metro Region show a slight price decline for the first time in over a decade. Economist John McClain, of George Mason University, says the July 2006 housing numbers released today by Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. (MRIS) may signify a window of opportunity for buyers, but it could be short-lived.

McClain says the fact that the Fed has stopped raising interest rates, combined with the perception that this is a buyers' market could revive flat sales in a matter of months.

"According to OFHEO records (Office of Federal Enterprise Oversight) going back as far as 1977, the longest period of time that our region experienced a flat market was from 1990-1997, but there was not much job growth during that period," said McClain. "Only two years within that timeframe -'94 and '95-showed a decline in the average selling price.

The rest of the time it was flat-no large declines."

McClain points out that, unlike 1990-1997, the Greater DC Region's current economy is extremely healthy, with 77,000 new jobs opening up in the region within the past 12 months. "The indication is that this is simply a correction," said McClain, "prices rose too far too fast over the past four years and now it's leveling out."

Areas in which homes have traditionally sold at more affordable prices, like Greater Baltimore, Prince Georges and Frederick Counties, in Maryland, and Fauquier and Warren Counties, in Virginia, still show housing prices on the rise.

Average Selling Prices for July 2006:

* Washington, DC: $530,170, down 2.31% from July 2005
* Prince George's County, MD: $338,585, up 7.15% from July 2005
* Frederick County, MD: $369,503, up 6.27% from July 2005
* Montgomery County, MD: $547,991, down 0.75% from July 2005
* Alexandria, VA: $484,552, down 6.22% from July 2005
* Fairfax County, VA: $548,087, down 2.58% from July 2005
* Loudoun, VA: $533,825, down 2.96% from July 2005
* Fauquier County, VA: $618,062, up 26.79 % from July 2005
* Warren, VA: $321,362, up 18.32% from July 2005