McMansion market mcbust

A Van Metre Faukner model near our home has been for sale and vacant for nearly a year. Out of curiosity mostly, we took a tour during its open house Sunday. I lost count of the bedrooms at 6 (I think it had 7) and 6.5 baths. It was originally offered for around 1.1 mil. Its now for sale at the same price the owner bought it for 3 years ago @ $899,000. While this would be a great home for the Brady Bunch, I no longer envy nor regret not buying a larger model.

This article in the WSJ offers some explanation of what has happened to the large SFH market: http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell/markettrends/20060619-fletcher.html

 

Yeah, but when the models for those went up in 2002(?) they were between $450k-$600k. Early adopters still make money and I doubt we'll be dipping to 2002 levels, even if we do, it will be temporary. Metro station in Ashburn and WTC off of LC pkwy will bring it right back up for long term investors.

 

FYI, the purchase price of that Faulkner was $652,666, recorded February 2004, according to public county records. (I suppose it's possible that improvements were made after the original purchase, but probably not to the tune of $250K). If you are curious about the purchase price of any house you can go to loudoun.gov, select "Parcel Data" from the popular pages and enter the property address. Most of the houses bought in 2003-2004 (even the larger ones) were purchased for a lot less than many people realize. So people are still making a good profit these days when they sell, despite the so-called "bust." And I believe the house next door to that one sold pretty quickly a few months ago at about the same price. So while you probably can't sell a house at last year's prices, the market would really need to tank for prices to drop to 2003-2004 levels. I doubt that will happen, but who knows.

 

I stand corrected on the original price ($652,666 vs 899,000). Thats what I get for listening to the realtor. Perhaps 900 was an earlier offer. That County parcel data website is a real gold mine for anyone who is interested in looking up home sale info. Great thing about the site is you don't need the address, just the ability to pick out the lot on a map that has a house you curious about. Still, the downsizing trend is interesting.

 

I don't see how the market could have possibly supported the increase in prices that we've seen. It's sad to see many people that I know get priced out of the area. I know at least 3 couples that are right now looking to move out of the area because they are ready to move up to a home but can't afford it around here. My wife has one friend that is actually selling their house with 1 1/2 acre lot out this way somewhere (towards winchester, they want to move in closer) just to move into the tysons area just to rent a townhouse because it's closer.

I look at the price at which my house could go for right now after 2.5 years even with this "down turn" and even if I priced it 50k below what the market is still going for I'd be making bank.

 

The house transaction in Loudoun County that was spotlighted in the article was my next door neighbor. Apparently things are still good in California. The people sold their 1500 square foot house in 5 days for almost the same price as they paid for this one!

 

Hey Cliff, Ughhhhh...someone on Sunstone just dropped their asking price to 529K...it's been on the market since late March (I think it was originally listed for 669K)...wait do I smell desperation or is that gas line that broke today...What the *%#! Guess you are stuck with us until the metro comes...so I promise to play nice