Short Sale Statistics for Arlington
December 13, 2009 by Katie Wethman · Leave a Comment
Our local MLS has added a field to specify short sales (though “Undisclosed” is still an option), which makes it a little easier to get a handle on the current state of the market.
So where are the short sales in Arlington?
As of the date of this post, there are 46 active short sales in Arlington. Here is how they break out by zip code:
North Arlington:
22201 = 4 properties (2 in Westview, 1 Colonial Village, 1 Clarendon 1021)
22203 = 1 property (in Lexington Square)
22205 = 3 properties (Broyhill Heights, Garden Commons, Fostoria)
22207 = 2 properties (Highview Park, Berkshire Oakwood)
22209 = 1 property (Belvedere)
South Arlington
22202 = 1 property (Arl Ridge)
22204 = 32 properties (scattered, but mostly 1-2 br condos)
22206 = 2 properties (Courtbridge & Nauck Valley)
It’s easy to see where the concentration of short sales is for Arlington–the area just south of Rt 50, bordered on the west (roughly) by Carlin Springs Rd, which includes neighborhoods such as Alcova Heights, Douglas Park, Columbia Forest, Barcroft, Glencarlyn, Arlington Heights, Penrose, and Columbia Heights.
What are your chances of a short sale closing?
This has long been the challenge for buyers, who are often facing a lease deadline or trying to capitalize on the $8000 first time buyer tax credit or historically low interest rates. In November 2009, 17 short sales closed–pretty good! That means that there is currently 2.7 months of short sale inventory — almost consistent with Arlington’s inventory as a whole, which is hovering around 4 months–about 6% of which is short sales, and another 10 (<1%) are foreclosures. Half of the 10 foreclosures are in 22204, as well.
Compare this to the 14.7% of Fairfax County’s current inventory that are 
short sales and an additional 6.3% that are foreclosures. So 21% of Fairfax County’s inventory is ‘distressed’ vs just 7% of Arlington’s. Alexandria City currently has 11% of their 455 listings as short sales, and another 4% as foreclosures, for a total of 15% distressed. DC has 7% short sales and 10% foreclosures. So to recap:
% Distressed Sales
- Arlington: 7%
- Fairfax 21%
- Alexandria 15%
- District 17%
How long does it take to close a short sale, and how much do they go for?
Arlington’s 17 short sales that closed had an average Days on Market of 90, and an average sold-to-list price ratio of 97.4%. Our actives, on the other hand, have Days on Market ranging from 1 to 524, with an average of 114.
Should buyers be looking at short sales?
Short sales are certainly not without their challenges, but they can be a good deal, depending on what you’re looking for, where you’re looking, and how flexible you are with timing as well as condition of the property. If you’d like to discuss more about buying short sales, please contact us. And if you need to sell in a short sale position, we can help with that, too.
Read More: Risks of Foreclosures
Read More: What’s the Difference Between a Short Sale and a Foreclosure?
Source: MRIS as of 12/13/09 All data deemed accurate but not guaranteed.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
