Thoughts on the Washington, DC, and Northern Virginia Real Estate Market » condo

North Arlington (Orange Line) Condo Update: August 2010

wethmangroupadmin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:00:30 +0000

Zip Codes 22201 and 22203 (includes Ballston, Virginia Square, Clarendon)

Source: MRIS as of date of blog post. All data deemed accurate but not guaranteed. Stats exclude retirement communities and co-ops.

See market data for all of Arlington.

See more Buyer Resources

See last month’s post on Orange Line Condo prices.

Ready to start your search? Sign up for a free first time home buyer class in Arlington (registration required).

	1 BR Units	2BR Units
ACTIVE LISTINGS as of August 12, 2010
Average List Price	$325,231	$504,998
Number of Active Listings	35	56
Average Property DOM(P) – Actives	65	82
SOLD LISTINGS for July 2010
Average Sold Price for Previous Month (does not include seller subsidies)	$366,317	$473,495
Number of Sold Listings in Previous Month	12	19
Average Property DOM(P) – Solds	37	54

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Northern Virginia & Washington DC Real Estate Market Update: August 2010

Katie Wethman — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:54:18 +0000

Though August is typically pretty slow, there’s still plenty of buzz in the real estate world, as well as the TV world, where Katie is making her TV debut on an episode of HGTV’s “My First Place.” Be sure to set your DVR to catch the Emmy-worthy performance this Thursday August 5 at 8:00 pm (and repeats in September)!

There’s also buzz about the actual real estate market, of course. The DC rental market is heating up as vacancies drop, and with the recent stabilization of our housing market, some apartments, including buildings in Adams Morgan, are once again being re-developed into condos (remember 2004, anyone?)

Our local real estate market continues to be one of the most stable in the country, still driven by low unemployment. The Wall Street Journal published this cool interactive chart that shows DC as 7th in price increase and lowest unemployment in the nation.

Inventory continues to stay low, but there’s also buzz about ‘sidelined sellers’ returning to the market soon. As the article notes, we’ve recently had about 20 homes per day list, when in past years we’ve had 50, so it would be a good thing for our area to have some more homes on the market. (Shameless plug: If you or someone you know is thinking about selling, please contact us!)

In other news…

Read the San Francisco Gate article about reasons NOT to buy (no, that’s not a typo) with some commentary by Katie Wethman of the Wethman Group.

In the “practice what you preach” department, I (Katie) recently bought a house! With rates being so fantastic (4.5%-ish, so time to think about refinancing, all you homeowners!), and prices stable, I really do think it’s a great time to buy. And if anyone is in the market for a $3500/month rental in Ballston, see http://11thStN.WethmanGroup.com Shameless plug #2: If you or someone you know is thinking of buying, we want to hear from you too!

As always, if we can be of assistance with your real estate needs, or you know someone looking to move, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

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North Arlington (Orange Line) Condo Update: June 2010

wethmangroupadmin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:00:28 +0000

Zip Codes 22201 and 22203 (includes Ballston, Virginia Square, Clarendon)

Source: MRIS as of date of blog post. All data deemed accurate but not guaranteed. Stats exclude retirement communities and co-ops.

See market data for all of Arlington.

See more Buyer Resources

See last month’s post on Orange Line Condo prices.

Ready to start your search? Sign up for a free first time home buyer class in Arlington (registration required).

	1 BR Units	2BR Units
ACTIVE LISTINGS as of June 14, 2010
Average List Price	$316,529	$494,299
Number of Active Listings	58	53
Average Property DOM(P) – Actives	60	74
SOLD LISTINGS for May 2010
Average Sold Price for Previous Month (does not include seller subsidies)	$343,589	$493,713
Number of Sold Listings in Previous Month	19	31
Average Property DOM(P) – Solds	32	31

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North Arlington (Orange Line) Condo Update: May 2010

wethmangroupadmin — Wed, 12 May 2010 15:39:02 +0000

Zip Codes 22201 and 22203 (includes Ballston, Virginia Square, Clarendon)

Source: MRIS as of date of blog post. All data deemed accurate but not guaranteed. Stats exclude retirement communities and co-ops.

See market data for all of Arlington.

See more Buyer Resources

See last month’s post on Orange Line Condo prices.

Ready to start your search? Sign up for a free first time home buyer class in Arlington (registration required).

	1 BR Units	2BR Units
ACTIVE LISTINGS as of May 12, 2010
Average List Price	$315,334	$496,847
Number of Active Listings	62	54
Average Property DOM(P) – Actives	50	65
SOLD LISTINGS for March 2010
Average Sold Price for Previous Month (does not include seller subsidies)	$324,027	$480,748
Number of Sold Listings in Previous Month	27	28
Average Property DOM(P) – Solds	57	41

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North Arlington (Orange Line) Condo Update: March 2010 Zip Codes 22201 and 22203 (includes Ballston, Virginia Square, Clarendon)...
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North Arlington (Orange Line) Condo Update: April 2010

wethmangroupadmin — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 19:10:29 +0000

Zip Codes 22201 and 22203 (includes Ballston, Virginia Square, Clarendon)

Source: MRIS as of date of blog post. All data deemed accurate but not guaranteed. Stats exclude retirement communities and co-ops.

See market data for all of Arlington.

See more Buyer Resources

See last month’s post on Orange Line Condo prices.

Ready to start your search? Sign up for a free first time home buyer class in Arlington (registration required).

	1 BR Units	2BR Units
ACTIVE LISTINGS as of April 12, 2010
Average List Price	$320,261	$517,925
Number of Active Listings	68	54
Average Property DOM(P) – Actives	42	48
SOLD LISTINGS for March 2010
Average Sold Price for Previous Month (does not include seller subsidies)	$341,516	$413,619
Number of Sold Listings in Previous Month	29	16
Average Property DOM(P) – Solds	35	40

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North Arlington (Orange Line) Condo Update: March 2010 Zip Codes 22201 and 22203 (includes Ballston, Virginia Square, Clarendon)...
North Arlington (Orange Line) Condo Update – January 2010 Zip Codes 22201 and 22203 (includes Ballston, Virginia Square, Clarendon)...
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North Arlington (Orange Line) Condo Update: March 2010

wethmangroupadmin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:46:09 +0000

Zip Codes 22201 and 22203 (includes Ballston, Virginia Square, Clarendon)

Source: MRIS as of date of blog post. All data deemed accurate but not guaranteed. Stats exclude retirement communities and co-ops.

See market data for all of Arlington.

See more Buyer Resources

See last month’s post on Orange Line Condo prices.

Ready to start your search? Sign up for a free first time home buyer class in Arlington (registration required).

	1 BR Units	2BR Units
ACTIVE LISTINGS as of March 12, 2010
Average List Price	$318,382	$520,363
Number of Active Listings	38	45
Average Property DOM(P) – Actives	63	70
SOLD LISTINGS for February 2010
Average Sold Price for Previous Month (does not include seller subsidies)	$344,085	$462,794
Number of Sold Listings in Previous Month	13	17
Average Property DOM(P) – Solds	46	45

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Arlington Condo Pet Policies

Katie Wethman — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:26:04 +0000

So you’re ready to buy a condo…But what about your four-legged friends? Will they be able to go with you, or will you be asking Mom to take care of them…again. Well, we’re here to help! Below is a table of the pet policies for a number of Arlington condos. All information is believed to be current as of 03/03/2010, but you should ask your agent to confirm with the property management company, and also review the condo docs carefully.

Interested in a building you don’t see here? Give us a call and we’ll find out!


CONDO NAME	POLICY
Alta Vista	2 cats max; Dogs: <25 lbs, <15” high
Arlington Condo	No limit
Arlington Oaks	One per unit, <40 lbs.
Atrium	One per unit, <25 lbs
Ballston Park	2 small pets; <25 lbs
Balmoral	1 dog, <50 lbs; or 2 cats
Bedford Park	Limited to 3 dogs; no size limit
Belvedere	One per unit; no size limit
Berkeley	Limited to 2 dogs or cats. Dogs <100lbs
Cambridge Courts	One per unit; no size limit
Cardinal House	Limited to 2 cats; no dogs
Carlton	1 pet, <25 lbs.
Charleston	Limited to 2; no size limit
Chatham	No current limits
Chateaux	Limited to 1 pet; <22 lbs
Clarendon 1021	1 dog, <40 lbs; 2 cats
Colonial Village	Limited to 2; no size limit
Continental	Limited to 2; no size limit
Falls Station	Limited to 2 small pets
Heatherlea	No limit
Horizon House	Limited to 1, <35 lbs
Hyde Park	Limited to 2 cats; no dogs
Lexington Square	Limited to 1; no size limit
Odyssey	Limited to 2; <40 lbs
Palisade Gardens	One small pet
Prospect House	no pets allowed
Rosslyn Heights	2 cats or 1 dog per unit; <50 lbs
Station Square	Limited to 1; no size limit
Summerwalk	Limited to 1; <25 lbs
Wentworth Place	Limited to 1; <40 lbs
Westmoreland Terrace	<90 lbs.; No limit on # per unit
Windgate II	Limited to 2; no size limit
Windsor Plaza	Limited to 1; no size limit
Woodbury Heights	1 per unit, <30 lbs.
Yorktown Condo	Case by case basis

More Resources:
Attend a Free First Time Home Buyer Class
Review Orange Line Condo Prices
Search for a Condo

When you’re ready to start your Arlington condo search, please contact us. We’d love to meet you over coffee and see if it makes sense to work together.

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Financing Condos in a Mixed Use Building

Katie Wethman — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:13:21 +0000

As if condo buyers didn’t have enough headaches trying to buy a condo with the new FHA rules in place, many are also running into troubles with “mixed use” buildings, i.e., condos that have residential units but also commercial space (usually on the ground floor or street level), as is common in urban areas like ours.

Examples of this commercial space may be a grocery store or restaurant on the bottom floor of the building or a convenience store as part of the lobby…all of which is very convenient, however, may create difficulties for obtaining the loan you want. Under current Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines, financing becomes an issue if the commercial space is more than 20% of the entire project. If it’s more than 25%, you cannot do an FHA or VA loan either.

After finding what seemed to be the perfect condo for one of our buyer clients in Alexandria, it was disappointing to learn a Whole Foods occupied 43,000 square feet (28.6%) of the building, taking some popular financing options off the table for our buyer.

Ilyce Glink has this to say on the new financing rules for condo buyers:

Developers who built multi-use properties, with commercial, retail or restaurants on the first floor and condo units above may find that their properties will not be approved for financing.
Fannie Mae guidelines require that no more than 20 percent of a building’s floor area ratio (FAR) can be commercial. So if the building has 3,000 square feet, with a 1,000 square foot shop on the first floor and two 1,000 square foot condos above it, the property will likely not be “approved” and a buyer will not be able to get financing.
All this is bad news for condo buyers. Buyers who didn’t close before the end of 2009 may now find themselves rejected for financing if they are buying in a condo building that has not been approved or can’t be approved. Can you imagine the headaches this will cause?
Lenders say that buyers who need a loan to close on their purchase should ask whether a building is approved for financing before bothering to go for a showing.

She continues…

While there are some waivers being granted, condo buyers all over the country will find it more difficult to finance their purchases. These days, if you can’t finance a property, the number of prospective buyers will decline, and the property value could tumble.

What does this mean for buyers? Expect headaches, long waits, bigger down payments and higher interest rates if you’re buying a condo in a mixed use building that has too much commercial space–assuming you can get financing at all! And if you’re thinking of putting an offer in, it’s wise to do some legwork on the building and with your lender before you go through the effort.

This is all thanks to the “tightening” of the credit markets that’s been going on since the bubble burst. Will some of these rules loosen in the future? I hope so. Otherwise, current owners in buildings with high percentages of commercial space need to be prepared to wait it out.

This information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Every situation is different and you should check with your agent and a lender about specific properties.

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We’re honored to have been nominated as one of DC’s best real estate blogs.

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Will the New FHA Rules Kill Arlington Condo Sales?

Katie Wethman — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:21:23 +0000

On February 1, HUD and FHA rolled out major changes to the condo approval process. Previously, buyers wishing to use FHA financing had two options: If the condo was listed in the FHA’s “Approved Project” database, you were good to go. But if it wasn’t, buyers had the option of going through the (now in hindsight relatively easy and straightforward) “Spot Approval” process, which typically could be completed within 30 days or so at minimal cost. Spot approvals had to be obtained on individual units for each transaction — it was an exception-based process. Given that condos are the main option for many first time buyers, who may lack the 10-20% down payment required in conventional financing, we saw an explosion in the use of FHA financing, which requires just 3.5% down, in the past few years, and a lot of spot approval applications.

The approved database remains in place and is the easiest option, but the new rules scrap the whole Spot Approval system completely, and now require condos to go through a lengthy and expensive HRAP (HUD Review and Approval) or DELRAP (D.E. Lender Review and Approval) process. The good news is that once a community is through the HRAP or DELRAP process, their approval will potentially remain in place for several years and applies to the entire building, and future buyers can simply coast in on that approval. You need only to check the database.

The process is much more cumbersome than the previous spot approval application, though, and these rules are all new. As a result some lenders are deciding it’s not worth the time (4-6 weeks) or cost (several thousand dollars per review) to jump in to this arena just yet. Some are letting other lenders “bite the bullet” on this one and will jump in later, after more condos are through the process and they can ride the coattails of lenders before them.

So what effect will this new hurdle in obtaining FHA financing have on Arlington’s condo market?

In the past 30 days, according to MRIS statistics, financing for sold condos (excluding retirement communities) was as follows:

Surprisingly, more than HALF the sales used Conventional financing! This would indicate that the condo market isn’t going to come to a screeching halt after all. But is there a difference based on price point?

Financing Used in Arlington Condo Sales by Price

Clearly there is heavier dependence on FHA in the under $300K and $300-500K price points, but I’m surprised it isn’t even heavier that this data indicates. This indicates to me that the lower priced condos (under $300k) are going to be disproportionately affected, but also are unlikely to completely halt. And look at the high percentage of all cash deals in that segment!

So it may take us a few weeks, or even months, to get the majority of condos through this painful new HRAP/DELRAP process, but hopefully in the long run it will be easier for everyone. While we’re going through this initial launch phase, keep in mind that settlement times will be MUCH longer (remember that June 30 $8000 credit settlement deadline?) and buyers may incur thousands of dollars in extra cost if they’re the unlucky “first mover” in a building trying to do FHA.

* If you know you are going to use FHA to buy a condo, being under contract by April 30 is NO guarantee that a currently ‘unapproved’ condo can get through this process by June 30. *
*My advice is to get under contract EARLY if using FHA to buy a condo if you’re trying to beat the tax credit deadline. *

And for those who can’t or won’t do FHA, remember ‘cash is king’ and you’ll likely need at least 10% as a down payment for a conventional loan.

And here’s another tip: If you’re looking at condos priced above $400,000 or so, contact me to discuss an important option that you may be completely missing in your search that would completely eliminate this issue!

To start your condo search, contact us — we’d love to help you!

Learn More: Attend a free First Time Home Buyer Class

Search Homes for Sale in the MLS

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North Arlington (Orange Line) Condo Update – January 2010

Katie Wethman — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:54:56 +0000

Zip Codes 22201 and 22203 (includes Ballston, Virginia Square, Clarendon)

Source: MRIS as of date of blog post. All data deemed accurate but not guaranteed. Stats exclude retirement communities and co-ops.

See market data for all of Arlington.

See more Buyer Resources

See last month’s post on Orange Line Condo prices.

Ready to start your search? Sign up for a free first time home buyer class in Arlington (registration required).

	1 BR Units	2BR Units
ACTIVE LISTINGS as of January 19, 2009
Average List Price	$333,468	$519,365
Number of Active Listings	40	34
Average Property DOM(P) – Actives	73	98
SOLD LISTINGS for December 2009
Average Sold Price for Previous Month (does not include seller subsidies)	$331,493	$500,096
Number of Sold Listings in Previous Month	14	11
Average Property DOM(P) – Solds	34	13

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