Blog Post: Vienna-Oakton Real Estate Market Is Busy

Wherever I go around town, the first thing people always ask me when they find out I’m with The Belt Team is “How’s the market?” When I respond “crazy busy” and they are surprised by my response, I know they must be national news watchers and not local blog readers.

For whatever reason, there is still a perception among many that the real estate market is “bad” and that homes aren’t selling. But that is simply not the case. While we are not back in the days where homes were appreciating incredibly rapidly and in the blink of an eye (and that’s a GOOD thing because it was not healthy and could never be sustained), we ARE back in the days where homes are selling, selling quickly and some are selling over list price.

Buyers and sellers both have to do their homework.

SELLERS:

Expectations of buyers are that the home they buy is move-in ready — paint is fresh & neutral, carpets are the same, kitchens & baths should be updated and NO WALLPAPER! Some sellers think they can skip doing the work and either lower their asking price or offer a credit "so the Buyers can put in what they want." But today’s buyer just doesn’t want to spend the time (or money) to do their own makeover. Their expectation is MOVE-IN READY NOW. And not doing the work to prep your home for market ahead of time not only affects your bottom line price, it may affect your saleability.

A wise seller will consult their Realtor BEFORE they are ready to go on the market so they can find out what does and what does not need doing. Sellers who don’t do this often spend money on upgrades or fixes that really didn’t need to be made to sell their home.

BUYERS:

But buyers have to do their own homework. If they don’t, in today’s market they will lose out. Loans need to be fully approved and not contingent. If you need (or want) to sell your existing home before you buy your next home — you need to go ahead and do that. In today’s market, sellers will no longer consider accepting a contract that is contingent upon the buyer selling their existing home. They do not want to accept that kind of risk and with the market as brisk as it is right now, they don’t have to. Buyers also have to be prepared to move quickly. They need to be educated and know exactly what they want and what they are willing to pay so that when that perfect house pops onto the market, they can jump on it. Because chances are, someone else is also waiting for that same house.

Our Keller Williams Realty office in McLean is one of the top sales offices in all of the D.C. region (for all companies). As a result, we are able to get a great pulse on the market not only through what we personally see day-to-day, but also by hearing from the rest of the office at our weekly meetings. This week, we continued to hear story after story of multiple contracts and homes selling the first weekend on the market – three contracts here, six contracts there, even one situation of 30 contracts! While this doesn’t happen on every listing, it is happening enough that buyers must take notice and be prepared.

Buyers: You should be discussing strategies with your agent BEFORE you are in a pressure situation. Ask your agent to explain your options so you can decide what you are and are not comfortable with — things like escalation clauses, no appraisal contingency, doing an extra large earnest money deposit. Today’s market is not the one we saw about 5 years ago where Buyers were in the driver’s seat and could ask for whatever they wanted. The playing field has been leveled. And we’re back to the basics where both Buyers and Sellers have to work together toward a WIN-WIN siuation by each one doing their part.

So ... what’s happening this week in Vienna & Oakton?

Let’s find out by sticking to the format we used last week to analyze the market supply. If you read last week’s post, you saw that while the overall statistics might say Vienna and Oakton are in a seller’s market, that may not be the case in every price range. (Statistics below are based on today’s housing inventory and the past 30 days sales.)

OAKTON:

• Up to $799,999: 39 homes currently listed, 1.4 month housing supply (Seller’s Market)
• $800,000 – $1,099,999: 10 homes currently listed, 1.7 month housing supply (Seller’s Market)
• $1,100,000 – $1,249,999: 7 homes currently listed, no sales in past 30 days
• $1,250,000 – $1,500,000: homes currently listed, 5.5 month housing supply (Balanced Market)
• Above $1,500,000: 9 homes currently listed, 9 month housing supply  (Buyer’s Market)

VIENNA:

• Up to $799,999: 75 homes currently listed, more homes sold in the past 30 days than are on the market now, less than 1 month housing supply (Seller’s Market)
• $800,000 – $1,099,999: 39 homes currently listed, 1.9 month housing supply (Seller’s Market)
• $1,100,000 – $1,249,999: 26 homes currently listed, 6.5 month housing supply (Balanced Market)
• $1,250,000 – $1,500,000: 34 homes currently listed, 11 month housing supply (Buyer’s Market)
• Above $1,500,000: 20 homes currently listed, 10 month housing supply  (Buyer’s Market)

Detailed statistics for last week in the overall Vienna & Oakton markets are below. Contact The Belt Team if you would like statistics on YOUR particular market!

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

• Number of Contracts: 23
• Average Days on Market for Active Listings: 100 days
• Average Days on Market for Listings That Went Under Contract: 38 days
• Inventory: 193 homes on the market
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 90 day contract rate): 2.0 months
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 30 day contract rate): 1.8 months

Last week in Oakton Real Estate (22124):

• Number of Contracts: 9
• Average Days on Market for Active Listings: 95 days
• Average Days on Market for Listings That Went Under Contract: 17
• Inventory: 76 homes on the market
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 90 day contract rate): 2.5 months
• Number of Months Supply of Homes (Based on past 30 day contract rate): 2.1 months

Also, you can read more about:

• What Sellers Should Look For In A Realtor
• Today’s Top 3 Tech Tools To Market Your Home
• Why You Don’t Want To Miss Out on “The Belt Team Experience”?

You can also listen to How Buyers Should Choose The Right Realtor.

For more from the Belt Team, click here.