real estate

Just Reduced Properties in Arlington

By ARLnow.com Sponsor
1/7

Each week, “Just Reduced” spotlights properties in Arlington County whose price have been cut over the previous week. The market summary is crafted by Arlington Realty, Inc. Maximize your real estate investment with the team by visiting www.arlingtonrealtyinc.com or calling 703-836-6000 today!

Please note: While Arlington Realty, Inc. provides this information for the community, it may not be the listing company of these homes.

It’s Inauguration Day in America. Wherever you are on the political spectrum, it’s always a day to reflect on the start of something new or the next chapter.

On this day, let’s look at the definition of inaugurate and apply it to the real estate realm: “to begin or introduce a system, policy or period.” For so many folks in and around Arlington County, they may be stuck in a routine or system that just doesn’t work for them.

The team at Arlington Realty, Inc. is here to inspire you to inaugurate a new living situation for yourselves. Whether it’s selling a residence you’ve had on your hands for years, embarking on a new rental journey or finding the home of your dreams, you can make it happen.

You just need to take that first step.

When you’re ready to chat about your aspirations, the team at Arlington Realty, Inc. is always here for you.

And now on to this week’s Just Reduced figures…

As of January 18, there are 107 detached homes, 39 townhouses and 283 condos for sale throughout Arlington County. In total, 27 homes experienced a price reduction in the past week, including:

Please note this is solely a selection of Just Reduced properties available in Arlington County. For a complete list of properties within your target budget and specifications, contact Arlington Realty, Inc.

Ask Eli: 2020 Housing Market Review — Single-Family Homes

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based realtor and Arlington resident. Please submit your questions to him via email for response in future columns. Enjoy!

Question: How did Arlington’s single-family housing market perform in 2020?

Answer: Despite the pandemic, the single-family housing market produced strong growth locally and nationally, primarily due to interest rates setting record lows throughout the year and a sharp change in housing criteria due to ongoing work/school-from-home demands. While Arlington experienced strong growth, less expensive markets farther from D.C. saw sharp increases in demand and explosive growth.

More Expensive…

In Arlington, the average and median price for a single-family home increased by 4.9% and 5.7%, respectively, after similar increases in 2019. The growth showed up in all ends of the market, including Arlington’s most expensive homes, with another record-shattering year for the number of $2 million to $3 million homes sold. Only 17% of single-family homes sold for less than $800,000 and about half of those were tear-downs or required major renovations.

Volume Still Down…

Despite a very slow rollout of homes for sale in the first half of the year due to lockdown measures and pandemic fears, market volume caught up quickly in the second half of the year, ending up with 13 more homes sold in 2020 than in 2019, but still approximately 10% lower than 2015 to 2018.

Faster Pace Sales…

Average and median days on market dropped for the fifth year in a row to 7 and 22.2 days, respectively, and the percentage of homes selling in the first week increased for the fifth year in a row, hitting the 50% mark in 2020. The average and median price for a home purchase within the first week on the market was 1.1% and 2% over the asking price, respectively. The takeaway? If you’re searching for a home, be prepared to act quickly and pay above the asking price for something new-to-market.

Six Interesting Charts

Below, I put together a series of charts to visualize how the Arlington housing market performed in 2020 and how that performance compares to the 2015 to 2019 markets.

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BREAKING: Arlington Residential Property Values Soar

By ARLnow.com

The value of homes in Arlington County has soared during the pandemic.

Residential property values in Arlington are up 5.6%, while commercial property values slumped 1.4% from last year, according to newly-released stats. Arlington County is starting the process of mailing the new assessments out to homeowners and commercial property owners.

“Arlington’s overall property tax base grew modestly from last year due to continued residential growth despite a slowdown in some commercial sectors due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the county is saying in a letter to property owners. “Property values increased 2.2% overall in Calendar Year (CY) 2021 compared to 4.6% growth in CY 2020. New construction contributed to 1% of the 2.2 % overall property assessment growth.”

The sharp rise in residential property assessments shows “the continued attractiveness of our Arlington community, even as our businesses and residents face the burdens and challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said County Manager Mark Schwartz. The average value of existing residential properties is now $724,400, up from $658,600 two years ago.

The average value of hotels, meanwhile, plummeted amid the pandemic, while apartment and office buildings increased in value — with the latter propped up by the arrival of Amazon.

“Overall commercial property assessments decreased by 1.4% over the previous year, mainly driven by a double-digit decrease in the hotel sector where operations have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the county said. “Apartment and general commercial (malls, retail stores, gas stations, commercial condos, etc.) property values saw small decreases offset by new construction. After strong growth in CY 2020, apartment property assessments increased by 0.8% overall in CY 2021. General commercial property assessments increased by 0.1% overall.”

“While many office property assessments decreased due to increases in vacancy rates and changing demand for office space, total office property values increased by 0.8% over last year,” the county added. “The overall office market tax base increased, in part, due to the increased presence of Amazon and the related development activity.”

Last year, assessments rose 4.6% on average — 4.9% for commercial properties and 4.3% for residential properties. The big rise in 2021 residential assessments will likely result in another effective tax hike for homeowners.

Last year, Arlington’s property tax rate — $1.026 per $100 in assessed value — was held steady despite the higher property values. This year, budget pressures brought on by the pandemic have prompted the county to warn of the likelihood of both budget cuts and tax rate hikes.

The height of Arlington’s budget season is set to kick off on Feb. 20, with the release of the County Manager’s proposed Fiscal Year 2022 budget. The final budget is expected to be adopted on April 17. The county’s new fiscal year begins July 1.

“The County continues to feel the economic impacts on local revenues, including the slowdown in sales, meals and hotel taxes, as well as cost increases and additional costs related to the pandemic,” the county said in a press release today. “The projected budget shortfall remains at more than $40 million, excluding the needs of the Arlington Public Schools (APS).”

Open Houses in Arlington This Weekend

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Looking for a home? There are plenty of houses and condos open for viewing this weekend.

Check out the Arlington Realty website for a full list of homes for sale and open houses in Arlington. Here are a few highlights:

2750 N. Nelson Street
7 BD/7 BA, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: Washington Fine Properties, LLC
Listed: $2,200,000
Open: Sunday, 2-4 p.m.

 

2645 N. Ohio Street
5 BD/4 BA, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: Keller Williams Capital Properties
Listed: $1,575,000
Open: Sunday, 1-4 p.m.

 

5840 18th Street N.
6 BD/3 BA, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: Keller Williams Realty
Listed: $1,425,000
Open: Sunday, 2-4 p.m.

 

900 S. Wakefield Street
4 BD/3 BA single-family home
Agent: KW Metro Center
Listed: $999,900
Open: Saturday, 1-3 p.m.

 

3145 14th Street S.
4 BD/3 BA, 1 half bath townhouse
Agent: Compass
Listed: $815,000
Open: Sunday, 2-4 p.m.

 

236 N. Greenbriar Street
4 BD/2 BA single-family home
Agent: Living Realty, LLC
Listed: $750,000
Open: Sunday, 1-3 p.m.

 

1600 N. Oak Street, #1505
2 BD/2 BA condo
Agent: Long & Foster Real Estate
Listed: $619, 990
Open: Sunday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Just Listed in Arlington

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

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.

Inventory continues to decline in Arlington, bolstered by strong buyer demand through the second week of January. With just 397 total available properties, we haven’t been this strapped for homes since early August 2020. Ninety of these are single family, 37 are townhouses/semi-detached and 270 are condos. Condo inventory is down 100 from the week of November 22, when it peaked at 370 available units.

Arlington sellers listed some 55 homes this past week, up from 49 the week prior. Buyers really did their part, virtually keeping pace with 54 contracts ratified, 22 of which were homes on the market seven days or less. Last week we had 42 ratified contracts.

Mortgage rates just ticked up about one-eighth of a point in the past week — still historically low but perhaps indicative of a trend upward. We haven’t seen this large of a move in a one-week increment since last March, when Covid-19 and associated lockdown measures were threatening the liquidity of capital. It’s still an amazing time to refinance an existing loan, invest in more real estate to lock in a low fixed payment, or buy a new home for your family.

Currently available homes across all property types have an average list price of $754,824 and median of $544,500.

Pick of the Week: 1745 S. Hayes Street #2, Arlington, VA 22202 — $635,000

Southampton is one of the most conveniently located townhome developments in Arlington. Walk across the street to Pentagon City and Metro or to Costco, or take a short stroll to Amazon’s HQ2. This 3 BD/2.5 BA two-level townhome has assigned parking at the front door and is 1,400 square feet plus has a large covered balcony. Find me here on Sunday, from 1-4 p.m. for the in-person open house, or call me at 703-203-1117 to make arrangements to tour privately.

Click here to search currently available Arlington real estate. If you see a home you’re interested in purchasing, give us a call.

Call the Andors Real Estate Group today at 703-203-1117 to talk more about buying or selling Arlington real estate. Below are eight new listings I think you might like to check out:

Stylish Trenton Square at Ballston — Just Around the Corner

By ARLnow.com Sponsor
1/10

Just around the corner from Washington, D.C., in North Arlington, is Ballston. A reflection of the nation’s capital, Ballston blends some of the city’s highlights with its own unique rhythm, creating a vibrant and exciting place to work and play.

Just around the corner from the heart of Ballston, is Trenton Square at Ballston. Down tree-lined streets, the townhome community of Trenton Square provides the perfect balance to the cosmopolitan cadence of Ballston, creating a relaxing and spacious place to live. This boutique community of just 19 townhomes is selling quickly and won’t last long. Make an appointment to visit our beautifully decorated model today, and lock in today’s low mortgage rates with our homes available for immediate delivery.

The homes at Trenton Square would make anyone in D.C. envious. Four levels of luxury and elegance, and with the space and comfort to stretch your legs, take a deep breath and bathe in the light pouring through all the large windows.

The entry level is all about productivity. A two-car garage protects your vehicles and gives you some extra flex space, should you need it. Dedicated office space lets you easily work from home without taking over the dining room table.

The next two levels provide fuel, fun and recharging. A designer kitchen with quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances and a large island will inspire many delicious meals. A spacious dining and family room fill out the floor, providing all the room you need to entertain. Above that, on the third floor, is your owner’s suite. Decadent. Refreshing. A sanctuary within a sanctuary.

The fourth floor is special, because that’s where a large and airy loft space leads out onto your private outdoor terrace. Dine under the stars, dance with the rising sun or share a glass of wine and a good book with the fresh air. Your private terrace provides the ultimate natural recharge.

Just around the corner from home, right down the road, you’re back in the heart of Ballston. All the best dining, shopping and entertainment await you. Any flavor you crave can be found within five blocks at one of over 80 restaurants. Scores of essential services and boutique shops are ready to brighten your home and life. Parks, movie theaters, immersive virtual experiences and even an ice rink (home of the Washington Capitals) — can’t get much cooler than that!

4 levels, 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 2-car garage, beautifully finished — from $974,900

Immediate delivery homes are available!

Just Sold in Arlington: Jan. 14, 2021

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

As we ease into 2021, Arlington’s real estate market continues to look strong. This past week, 31 properties were reported sold across the county, up slightly from last week.

As of last month, there were 622 homes listed for sale in Arlington, according to Homesnap. This includes 427 condos, 146 detached homes and 49 townhomes.

“The median list price is $549,450 and the median sales price is $615,000,” Homesnap reports. “There have been 136 new listings in the last 4 weeks and 239 sales.”

Here are a few of the properties sold in the past seven days:

In the market? See properties that have been Just Listed and Just Reduced.

Just Reduced Properties in Arlington

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Each week, “Just Reduced” spotlights properties in Arlington County whose price have been cut over the previous week. The market summary is crafted by Arlington Realty, Inc. Maximize your real estate investment with the team by visiting www.arlingtonrealtyinc.com or calling 703-836-6000 today!

Please note: While Arlington Realty, Inc. provides this information for the community, it may not be the listing company of these homes.

We’ve made it through one of the slower times of the year.

In the heart of Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year activities and everything in between, folks typically aren’t pushing the gas on their real estate aspirations. Now, nearly two weeks into 2021, we are starting to see things rev up again.

After a few weeks of steady declines on the listings front, we’ve seen our first uptick on detached home, townhouse and condo listings. Additionally, the number of Just Reduced properties has skyrocketed more than 200% over last week (from 12 to 36).

What’s between the numbers, you ask?

With the holidays in the books, folks are resetting and kicking things into high-gear to get properties sold. So, if you are in the market for buying, now is a wonderful time for you.

When you’re ready to embark on your real estate journey, the time-tested team at Arlington Realty, Inc. is ready to advocate and negotiate on your behalf.

And now on to this week’s Just Reduced figures…

As of January 11, there are 104 detached homes, 42 townhouses and 280 condos for sale throughout Arlington County. In total, 37 homes experienced a price reduction in the past week, including:

Please note this is solely a selection of Just Reduced properties available in Arlington County. For a complete list of properties within your target budget and specifications, contact Arlington Realty, Inc.

Ask Eli: Analyzing the Pace of Housing Inventory and Demand

By ARLnow Sponsor

This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based realtor and Arlington resident. Please submit your questions to him via email for response in future columns. Enjoy!

Question: When should I expect more homes to be put on the market for sale?

Answer: 2020 was an unusual year for housing inventory because we saw so little inventory come out during the spring, when the pace of new listings peaks, and an explosion of listings, especially condos, from late summer through the holidays. You can check out column I wrote that visualizes how unusual 2020 was for housing inventory in Arlington. Even though my analysis in this column and previous columns focuses on Arlington, similar patterns show up and can be applied across the D.C. metro.

It is much more likely that the pace of new listings will follow a more traditional pattern this year, with the number of homes listed for sale increasing steadily from now to the spring, peaking for about mid-March to mid-May, and then dropping steadily through the rest of the year, with a brief post-Labor Day spike.

Weekly Pace of Listings, by Housing Type

I’ve always shared and seen monthly breakdowns of listing inventory, so I thought it would be interesting to break it down a bit further into a weekly chart and see if there’s a noticeable difference in the seasonal pace of new listings of single-family homes/townhouses and condos.

The following chart does just that and pulls data from the five years spanning 2015 to 2019. (I threw out 2020 because it’s an anomaly.) The weekly percentages represent that week’s share of total annual listings. Note that the data for the first and last weeks of the year aren’t always full weeks because of how Excel calculates weeks.

As it turns out, the pace of listing inventory for single-family homes/townhouses and condos is nearly identical throughout the year, aside from a slightly higher pace for single-family homes and townhomes in the middle of the spring and a slightly lower pace for single-family homes and townhomes during the dog days of summer.

What can buyers looking for a home in 2021 take away from this chart? You can expect a significant increase in listings beginning around mid-February, buckle up for the most options in April and May, plan your vacations in July and August, look-out for the post-Labor Day surge, and hopefully you’ve found your dream home by the holidays!

Weekly Pace of Listings, by Year

The pace of new listings remains pretty consistent year-after-year, as shown by the chart below. There were only a handful of weeks with unusually low listing activity, compared to previous years. I’m guessing there was major weather activity during those weeks that caused some homeowners to delay or accelerate their listings by a week or two to avoid the drag of bad weather.

The consistency you see in the five-year chart below is also reflected in longer (10- and 15-year) charts, but those get a little too messy for display.

Weekly Pace of Listings and Contracts

The pace of listing inventory and contract activity is highly correlated. The “chicken or the egg” question is whether more/less listing activity drives more/less contract activity (demand), or does demand dictate listing activity, or do buyers and sellers just have similar patterns of behavior and thus the pace of supply and demand naturally correlate?

I think that it’s mostly due to No. 3, a natural correlation of behavior patterns that cause the pace of supply and demand to move in tandem. This is also supported by data, like the new-listing-to-new-pending ratios not being very seasonal.

Using the chart below, one could even make the argument that the best time to list a property for sale is the last two to three months of the year, when the pace of contract activity (demand) consistently exceeds new listings (competition). However, I’ve analyzed “success metrics” like days on market and sale-to-ask-price ratio based on the month a property is listed and overwhelmingly found that February to May/June produce the most favorable results for sellers.

I hope these charts were interesting and helpful to you! If you’d like to discuss buying or selling strategies, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected].

If you’d like a question answered in my weekly column or to set-up an in-person meeting to discuss local Real Estate, please send an email to [email protected]. To read any of my older posts, visit the blog section of my website at www.EliResidential.com. Call me directly at 703-539-2529.

Eli Tucker is a licensed Realtor in Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland with RLAH Real Estate, 4040 N Fairfax Dr #10C Arlington VA 22203. 703-390-9460.

Open Houses in Arlington This Weekend

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Looking for a home? There are plenty of houses and condos open for viewing this weekend.

Check out the Arlington Realty website for a full list of homes for sale and open houses in Arlington. Here are a few highlights:

1700 Clarendon Blvd, #158
2 BD/2 BA, 1 half bath condo
Agent: KW Metro Center
Listed: $1,599,000
Open: Sunday, 2-4 p.m.

 

3232 7th Street S.
5 BD/5 BA, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: Long & Foster Real Estate
Listed: $1,350,000
Open: Saturday, 1-3 p.m.

 

1331 19th Road S.
4 BD/3 BA, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: TTR Sotheby’s International Realty
Listed: $1,199,000
Open: Saturday, 1-3 p.m.

 

2022 N. Westmoreland Street
4 BD/3 BA, 1 half bath townhouse
Agent: eXp Realty, LLC
Listed: $1,040,000
Open: Sunday, 1-4 p.m.

 

6142 Lee Highway
4 BD/3 BA, 1 half bath single-family home
Agent: Redfin
Listed: $850,000
Open: Sunday, 1-3 p.m.

 

5109 11th Street S.
3 BD/2 BA single-family home
Agent: RE/MAX Allegiance
Listed: $725,000
Open: Sunday, 2-4 p.m.

 

2528 S. Walter Reed Drive, #3
2 BD/2 BA, 1 half bath condo
Agent: Bluestone Realty
Listed: $619,000
Open: Sunday, 1-3 p.m.

Just Listed in Arlington

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

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 Arlingtonians, and Happy New Year!

I’m excited about the housing market in 2021, and I know we’re going to have a fast-paced, inventory-starved, low-interest-rate-driven frenzy for homes across all price points.

We got some very big and interesting news from Amazon yesterday. A $2 billion commitment to preserve and create over 20,000 affordable homes in the locales where Amazon has a presence will go a long way to combat the impacts many are concerned will result from Amazon sharing our wonderful Arlington community. This fund will not only be in Arlington, but also in the Puget Sound region of Washington and the Nashville area as well.

Crystal House was recently purchased to provide affordable housing, creating close to 1,300 affordable units over time. Without this investment, it would have likely been converted to luxurious condos with huge price tags because of the incredible proximity to D.C. and National Landing. Additional money will be available at below-market borrowing rates to those earning below $79,600 in the D.C. region.

You can read more in the press release from Amazon.

Arlington is getting off to a quick start in 2021 with plenty of new homes coming online, ratified contracts keeping pace and a substantially shrunk (20% less) inventory than where we left off in 2020.

We’re going to see more price escalations than ever before in 2021. Waived contingencies, cash purchases and heavy showing traffic will be a main part of the story… but wait, James, that sounds like last year, and the year before that…

Yes — the frenzy for a piece of the pie will continue, with an emphasis on single family detached homes and new construction.

For this first week of January, sellers have listed 49 homes for sale, and purchasers ratified 42 contracts, seven of which were on homes listed within the past seven days.

Available inventory across the county for all property types is 404, 90 of which are single-family, 39 are townhouses/semi-detached properties and 275 are condos. It was just a few weeks ago that I wrote about condo inventory being up to 370!

Currently available homes across all property types have an average list price of $753,142 and a median of $549,950.

A quick note about mortgage rates: We’re at the lowest ever this week, a 2.65% average for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. That’s 1.10% lower than where we started in 2020!

Now, for the Pick of the Week: 1515 S. Arlington Ridge Road, #504, Arlington, VA 22202 — $399,000

Perched high on Arlington Ridge, overlooking Washington D.C. with a Washington Monument view from a private balcony, this condo enjoys unparalleled convenience to Arlington and D.C. This 892-square-foot 1 BD/1 BA condo has plenty of room to work from home, comes with a separate storage room, underground parking space and has a private pool, gym and community room.

Find me, in person, hosting this lovely condo open from 1-4 p.m. this Sunday, January 10.

Click here to search currently available Arlington real estate. If you see a home you’re interested in purchasing, give us a call.

Call the Andors Real Estate Group today at 703-203-1117 to talk more about buying or selling Arlington real estate. Below are eight new listings I think you might like to check out:

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