Northern Virginia Real Estate: Vienna, Oakton, McLean, Great Falls, Reston, Fairfax, and surrounding areas.

What has happened in the last week in Vienna & Oakton?

• Inventory in Vienna & Oakton dropped for the fifth straight week in a row. Vienna now has 213 homes on the market and Oakton has 71. This is the lowest level Vienna has seen in 7 months and in 8 months in Oakton. (GREAT for Sellers!) (Buyers - Low inventory like this is why you need a Realtor working on your behalf who has a track record of finding homes for their Buyers even before they come on the market!)

• Three homes went under contract in Oakton over the past week and 14 homes went under contract in Vienna. Sales traditionally slow somewhat as we approach the holidays. So this is just about where we expected the market to be. (Stay tuned for our post tomorrow about whether or not you should have your home on the market during the holidays.)

• 29% of the homes that went under contract in Vienna & Oakton last week sold in 10 days or less. And 41% sold in less than 30 days. The overall average for homes that went under contract last week was 71 days on market.

• Both Vienna and Oakton are continuing to teeter between a “Seller’s Market” and a “Balanced Market”. With a 3.8 month supply of homes in Vienna, Vienna is in a “Balanced Market”. While Oakton, with a 3.1 month supply of homes has moved back to being in a “Seller’s Market”.

If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home soon, you can email The Belt Team (or call us at 703-242-3975) to schedule a Buyer or Seller consultation, to request a FREE WRITTEN REPORT of your home’s value or to be put on our FREE PRIORITY NOTIFICATION LIST for special buying opportunities that are not in the MLS or on the Internet.

For our detail-oriented readers, here are last week’s stats:

Last week in Vienna Real Estate (22180,22181, 22182):

• Number of Contracts: 14
• Average Days on Market for Active Listings: 120 days
• Average Days on Market for Listings That Went Under Contract: 56 days
• Inventory: 213 homes on the market
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 90 day contract rate): 4.4 months
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 30 day contract rate): 3.8 months

Here are last week’s stats for Oakton Real Estate (22124):

• Number of Contracts: 3
• Average Days on Market for Active Listings: 93 days
• Average Days on Market for Listings That Went Under Contract: 67
• Inventory: 71 homes on the market
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 90 day contract rate): 3.7 months
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 30 day contract rate): 3.1 months

If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home, Contact The Belt Team at (703) 242-3975 for a more in-depth discussion & analysis - because it’s only the neighborhood YOU live in (or you WANT to live in) that matters. We’ll be happy to schedule a consultation and get very detailed about “YOUR Market” so that you can make the decision that is best for YOU!

VIENNA:                                                                            Oct 2010           Oct 2011

# New Listings                                                        91                         95

# Under Contract                                                    65                        57

# Sold/Settled                                                        57                       37

Avg Days on Market for Solds                              69 days              72 days    

 Avg Sales Price To Original List Price                  95.09%              96.43%     

Search the MLS for homes in Vienna

Read our blog about “Life In Vienna”

Call (703) 242-3975 or email the Belt Team for a FREE WRITTEN REPORT of your home’s value or to be put on our FREE PRIORITY NOTIFICATION LIST for special buying opportunities that are not in the MLS or on the Internet.

OAKTON:                                                                            Oct 2010           Oct 2011

# New Listings                                                        25                         30

# Under Contract                                                    23                        30

# Sold/Settled                                                        22                       15

Avg Days on Market for Solds                              50 days              73 days    

Avg Sales Price To Original List Price                  96.90%              94.10%      

Search the MLS for homes in Oakton

Call (703) 242-3975 or email the Belt Team for a FREE WRITTEN REPORT of your home’s value or to be put on our FREE PRIORITY NOTIFICATION LIST for special buying opportunities that are not in the MLS or on the Internet.

RESTON:                                                                            Oct 2010           Oct 2011

# New Listings                                                        105                         85

# Under Contract                                                    74                        78

# Sold/Settled                                                        72                       77

Avg Days on Market for Solds                              70 days              48 days    

Search the MLS for homes in Reston

Call (703) 242-3975 or email the Belt Team for a FREE WRITTEN REPORT of your home’s value or to be put on our FREE PRIORITY NOTIFICATION LIST for special buying opportunities that are not in the MLS or on the Internet.

McLean:                                                                            Oct 2010           Oct 2011

# New Listings                                                        76                        57

# Under Contract                                                    41                        54

# Sold/Settled                                                        43                        37

Avg Days on Market for Solds                              118 days              55 days    

Search the MLS for homes in McLean

Call (703) 242-3975 or email the Belt Team for a FREE WRITTEN REPORT of your home’s value or to be put on our FREE PRIORITY NOTIFICATION LIST for special buying opportunities that are not in the MLS or on the Internet.

GREAT FALLS:                                                               Oct 2010           Oct 2011

# New Listings                                                        35                        23        

# Under Contract                                                    11                        18

# Sold/Settled                                                        17                        11

Avg Days on Market for Solds                              169 days              164 days    

Search the MLS for homes in Great Falls

Call (703) 242-3975 or email the Belt Team for a FREE WRITTEN REPORT of your home’s value or to be put on our FREE PRIORITY NOTIFICATION LIST for special buying opportunities that are not in the MLS or on the Internet.

Now that the calendar page has been turned to November, we realize that Thanksgiving is just around the corner and that we have a LOT to be thankful for - especially here in Northern Virginia. I was reminded of that last night in chatting with a local restaurant employee who had recently come to our area.

He commented that “People who have not lived in other parts of the country over the past few years have no idea how good they have it here in Northern Virginia. They may feel like things are bad here, but things are great here compared to most other areas. Just look around. It’s Wednesday night and the restaurant is full.”

And that’s kind of how we feel about the real estate market - “Look around, it’s Wednesday night and the restaurant is full.” In other words, “It’s November of 2011 and in Vienna and Oakton and lots of other Northern VA markets, we’re still back & forth between a Seller’s Market and a Balanced Market!” No Buyer’s Market here. Not so many foreclosures. Yes, there are short sales - but not in numbers like you see across the rest of the U.S. Lenders are lending. And Buyers are buying.

So - let’s get down to the nitty gritty. What has happened in the last week in Vienna & Oakton?

• Inventory in Vienna & Oakton dropped again. This makes 3 weeks in a row. Vienna’s inventory dropped 2% and Oakton dropped 11%. Vienna now has 224 homes on the market and Oakton has 76.

• Seven homes went under contract in Oakton over the past week and 12 homes went under contract in Vienna. This is down from last week. And while this is slow for Vienna, it’s about the average we have seen each week in Oakton this year.

• 26% of the homes that went under contract in Vienna & Oakton sold in 10 days or less. And 58% sold in less than 30 days. Remember the days when the average days on market was closer to 180 or more?

• Both Vienna and Oakton are back to teetering between a “Seller’s Market” and a “Balanced Market”. With a 3.6 month supply of homes in Vienna, Vienna is in a “Balanced Market”. While Oakton, with a 2.7 month supply of homes has moved back to being in a “Seller’s Market”.

This last statistic is an example that truly illustrates what the restaurant employee was saying to me last night. When we network with our colleagues around the country, which we do on a regular basis, we hear numbers that just blow our minds. Agents are reporting housing supplies of 10, 20 30 - even 40 or more months. This means that if buyers continue to buy at the rate they are buying, it would take almost 4 YEARS for the homes to be sold. While here in Northern VA, the supply of homes would only last 3-4 months. Let’s count our blessings!

If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home soon, you may want to read our recent blog post about some of the top tech tools used in real estate today or listen to Belt Team Partner Pauline Knipe on Real Estate Radio Washington.

You can also email The Belt Team (or call us at 703-242-3975) to schedule a Buyer or Seller consultation, to request a FREE WRITTEN REPORT of your home’s value or to be put on our FREE PRIORITY NOTIFICATION LIST for special buying opportunities that are not in the MLS or on the Internet.

For our detail-oriented readers, here are last week’s stats:

Last week in Vienna Real Estate (22180,22181, 22182):

• Number of Contracts: 12
• Average Days on Market for Active Listings: 111 days
• Average Days on Market for Listings That Went Under Contract: 50 days
• Inventory: 224 homes on the market
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 90 day contract rate): 4.5 months
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 30 day contract rate): 3.6 months

Here are last week’s stats for Oakton Real Estate (22124):

• Number of Contracts: 7
• Average Days on Market for Active Listings: 95 days
• Average Days on Market for Listings That Went Under Contract: 82
• Inventory: 76 homes on the market
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 90 day contract rate): 3.6 months
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 30 day contract rate): 2.7 months

If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home, Contact The Belt Team at (703) 242-3975 for a more in-depth discussion & analysis - because it’s only the neighborhood YOU live in (or you WANT to live in) that matters. We’ll be happy to schedule a consultation and get very detailed about “YOUR Market” so that you can make the decision that is best for YOU!

We’re proud to announce that Pauline Knipe, Realtor Partner with The Belt Team, has been tapped as one of the local Northern Virginia real estate experts on the radio show Real Estate Radio Washington. A variety of topics are discussed each week and recently Pauline was asked to discuss how professional advice from a TOP Realtor can make a difference for a Buyer or a Seller. You can listen to a clip from the show here:

How Can Professional Advice Make A Difference For A Buyer or A Seller?  (And How Is Selling Your House Like Dating?!)

CEO of The Belt Team, Terry Belt, has also guested on Real Estate Radio Washington and has shared some expert advice that you don’t want to miss if you’re thinking of buying or selling a home in Northern Virginia.

Listen here:

• Selling Your Home - Don’t Make These Mistakes!

• Pricing Strategies for Sellers

• Is There A “Cost Of Waiting”? What Separates a Good Agent From a Bad Agent, More Importantly What Separates A Great Agent From A Good Agent?

• Who Is Terry Belt & The Belt Team

If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home and want a GREAT Realtor to represent you, Contact The Belt Team . It would be a pleasure for OUR family to help YOUR family make a successful move!

Did you know that Washington DC was listed as one of the top cities in the country for Trick or Treating? The ranking is done by Zillow.com and they based their rankings on a combination of statistics like population density, median home value, walk score & crime report. You can read more about our take on Zillow (an online real estate site) -  and see Zillow’s full list here.

We’re not scientists - but based on our 40+ years of real estate experience (and the fact that we ourselves and our children trick or treat here!) - we’d rank Northern Virginia a LOT higher on the list. Our guess is that only large cities were ranked by Zillow - but if smaller towns & cities were used - we’re sure places like Vienna, Fairfax, Falls Church, Arlington & Oakton would be included!

So - Happy Halloween to all of you out in Northern VA!

And don’t forget - if you know folks who have been “tricked” by the real estate market and need someone to “treat” them right - tell them to call The Belt Team at (703) 242-3975!

No Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Just Treats

If you follow our blog regularly, you may have noticed that we did not post a weekly Vienna/Oakton market update last week. That’s because The Belt Team has been super busy this month - with more contracts ratified than any other month in 2011 except March - and we still have a week to go in the month! So, as our blog post title says, “It may be flu season, but the real estate market in Vienna and Oakton is healthy!”

So what’s been happening? Here are the highlights:

• Inventory in Vienna dropped 7% over the past two weeks, while inventory in Oakton dropped 10%. Vienna now has 229 homes on the market and Oakton has 85.

• Nine homes went under contract in Oakton over the past week and 7 homes the week before. Both weeks exceeded the average we have seen over 2011 of 6 homes per week. In Vienna, 35 homes went under contract over the past two weeks (15 last week and 20 teh week before). This about matches the weekly average for the year.

•  Vienna & Oakton have diverged somewhat over the past two weeks in terms of the percentage of homes selling in 10 days or less. In Oakton, only one home (or 6% of the sales) sold that quickly in the past two weeks. While in Vienna, ten homes (29% of the sales) sold in 10 days or less. Average days on market for homes still active on the market is 107 days in Vienna and 94 days in Oakton.

• Both Vienna and Oakton are back to teetering between a “Seller’s Market” and a ”Balanced Market”. Vienna has a 4 month housing supply (as opposed to the 2011 average of 3.1 months). While Oakton has a 3.2 month supply of homes (as opposed to the 2011 average of 3.2 months).

If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home soon, you may want to read last week’s blog post about some of the top tech tools used in real estate today. You can also email The Belt Team (or call us at 703-242-3975) to schedule a Buyer or Seller consultation, to request a FREE WRITTEN REPORT of your home’s value or to be put on our FREE PRIORITY NOTIFICATION LIST for special buying opportunities that are not in the MLS or on the Internet.

For our detail-oriented readers, here are last week’s stats:

Last week in Vienna Real Estate (22180,22181, 22182):

• Number of Contracts: 15
• Average Days on Market for Active Listings: 107 days
• Average Days on Market for Listings That Went Under Contract: 56 days
• Inventory: 229 homes on the market
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 90 day contract rate): 4.2 months
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 30 day contract rate): 4.0 months

Here are last week’s stats for Oakton Real Estate (22124):

• Number of Contracts: 9
• Average Days on Market for Active Listings: 94 days
• Average Days on Market for Listings That Went Under Contract: 70
• Inventory: 85 homes on the market
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 90 day contract rate): 4.1 months
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 30 day contract rate): 3.2 months

If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home, Contact The Belt Team at (703) 242-3975 for a more in-depth discussion & analysis - because it’s only the neighborhood YOU live in (or you WANT to live in) that matters. We’ll be happy to schedule a consultation and get very detailed about “YOUR Market” so that you can make the decision that is best for YOU!