Just Listed highlights Arlington properties that just came on the market within the past week. This feature is written and sponsored by Andors Real Estate Group.
Good morning, Arlington, and welcome to Just Listed! I was feeling creative today so I wrote you a little bit more in depth about price escalations relative to market conditions — let me know what you think!
Last week I told you about properties selling for $300,000 over their asking price, and this week I’ll tell you more! This continues to happen; in fact, it seems to be ramping up in frequency. Besides the obvious lack of inventory, there are other reasons why this happens. No, most of the time the agent or the seller did not underprice the property.
In fact, it probably was simply priced perfectly! Pricing with data, based on the location of the property and its overall condition relative to recent sales isn’t always easy, but it’s the only way to do it. Once a property hits this hot of a market and it’s priced properly, market forces do the rest, allowing for prompt validation, fear of loss by other purchasers and an escalated sale price.
This does not mean that sellers should price where they “think” or “hope” it will sell! In fact, doing this is a perfect recipe to NOT sell your house! The aggressive price escalations happen when value, and in these cases, extra value, is perceived and then willingly paid for through market forces. Starting too high is obvious to the marketplace and results in your property being ignored in favor of other options. Price with recent data and allow the agents and marketplace to do the rest.
We’ve been experiencing constant price appreciation in Arlington since the Great Recession. That price appreciation is not linear, it jumps during certain periods of time, and stays stagnant for others. This results in an average that can be applied over longer durations, but a lot of it happens in short bits when the conditions are just right, such as this year’s spring market.
Say we experienced 12% appreciation year over year, for example. This could be applied as 1%/month, or $10,000/month on a $1,000,000 home, or it could all happen in March with a single sale for 10% over asking price, and then prices stop jumping for the remainder of the year. The latter is more of what we’re experiencing, as last fall prices were much more stagnant due to fewer buyers in the market, at the time.
Simply put, if prices jumped hundreds of thousands of dollars constantly, many, many times per year, we’d all be buying and selling homes that are worth $5,000,000+ before too long, but that’s certainly not what we’re experiencing in Arlington.
Fewer buyers in the market at any given time does not result in prices decreasing, they simply stop going up, for a time, hence the idea of average price appreciation being applied as a year over year, or month over month, metric.
I’m super excited to tell you about our teams newest listing — our PICK OF THE WEEK! 925 19th Street S., Arlington, VA 22202 — $1,074,900.
Welcome home to this expanded and recently renovated Cape Cod! It exudes charm and lives comfortably! Five bedrooms, two full and one half bathroom and the ability to live on the main level are just the beginning! Perfectly situated on a flat, 6,000sf fully fenced lot with driveway parking for two or more cars. An inviting front entryway leads into a foyer with views of the open kitchen, dining and family rooms.
Chef’s kitchen with gorgeous white cabinetry, Quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances and bar seating. A family room in the rear steps out onto one of two decks and overlooks the backyard. Upstairs has three bedrooms, a brand-new hall bathroom, and a second private deck from the primary bedroom. Bonus space upstairs, loads of storage throughout, including basement, and a flexible floorplan for all work from home, home school or multi-generational needs.
