Georgetown Stats - week of July 5 - 11

According to the MRIS (Multiple Regional Information Systems, Inc), the following real estate transactions have taken place in Georgetown real estate during the week July 5-11.

13 new listings: 8 Single Family (SF) ($949,000 - $2,495,000) and 5 Condo/Co-op (C/C) ($349,000 - $950,000)

3 properties came under contract: 1 SF ($1,045,000) and 2 C/C ($399,000 - $2,100,000)

3 properties went to closing during this time frame: 3 SF ($950,000 - $1,269,000) and 0 C/C

Georgetown Stats - week of June 28 - July 4

According to the MRIS (Multiple Regional Information Systems, Inc), the following real estate transactions have taken place in Georgetown real estate during the week 6/28-July 4.

1 new listing: 0 Single Family (SF) and 1 Condo/Co-op (C/C) ($950,000)

2 properties came under contract: 1 SF ($1,495,000) and 1 C/C ($674,900)

4 properties went to closing during this time frame: 2 SF ($649,000 - $1,299,000) and 2 C/C ($459,000 - $829,000)

Rocking before Rolling

A great deal of the success in selling a property is in the preparation for sale.  If one's eye is on "the sale" rather than the myriad details of preparation, one is likely to overlook necessary details and wind up without a sale, or at a price lower than desired. 

I'm reading a book by Judy Tillman titled "Stroke of Insight".  She is a brain scientest who had a massive stroke, and survived to write this very detailed book about that experience.  In describing the first few days after her stroke, she tells about her desire to recover physically, and on this particular day, her desire to simply sit up.  But before she can even think about sitting up, she has to learn to roll over.  And it takes every ounce of her energy and determination to rock back and forth to gain enough momemtum to roll over. 

Her conclusion is that if her goal had been sitting up, she would have been defeated immediately.  By setting a goal first to rock, and then second to roll, and then third to eventually sit up, she was able to accomplish one goal at a time...leading to sitting up finally.

So focus on "rocking" with your house, before "rolling" with it.

Jobs and Georgetown Housing

Thankfully we live in one of the most stable parts of the world with regard to jobs. That is one of the things which has kept us moving forward in the housing market in general. But the national drag on real estate has been significant as a result of job losses. That, in turn keeps a lid on our Georgetown market. We aren't "hurting" as in the quote below, but it reinforces the concept that while all real estate is local, we are connected globally.

"....many analysts are now predicting that employment won’t revive significantly until 2011. This doesn’t bode well for the immediate recovery of the housing market. "If you're looking for a silver lining in housing, you aren't going to find it here," Mike Larson of Weiss Research said in a report.

"The overall economy is rolling over, consumer confidence is slumping, and, most importantly, we just aren't creating jobs," Larson added. "With so many Americans unemployed or underemployed, the housing market is going to keep hurting."

Source: U.S. News & World Report, Luke Mullins (07/01/2010)

Location, Location, Location.....and Walkability

We all know that location is key to achieving the best possible price for a property. But only recently have we really begun focusing in on the "walkability" of the area in which the property resides. This is good news for DC, including Georgetown. We've always been walkers here, but it's good to know that others are noticing this amenity. Nancy Keates in the WSJ says, "The increasing interest among Americans in walkability is spawning a change in attitude about the desirability of not only urban areas, but also suburbs — both old and new — that have nearby amenities that can be reached on foot.

Having amenities within walking distance can boost the value of a home as much as $3,000, according to one study. Another found that “location efficiency,” a measure of transportation costs, affected the number of foreclosures in a neighborhood. "

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Nancy Keates (07/02/2010)

Georgetown Stats - week of June 21 - 27

According to the MRIS (Multiple Regional Information Systems, Inc), the following real estate transactions have taken place in Georgetown real estate during the week 6/21-27

5 new listings: 3 Single Family (SF) ($1,395,000- $1,995,000) and 2 Condo/Co-op (C/C) ($639,000 - $795,000)

5 properties came under contract: 4 SF ($699,000 - $3,450,000) and 1 C/C ($775,000)

5 properties went to closing during this time frame: 2 SF ($1,699,000 - $2,375,000) and 3 C/C ($339,000 - $1,995,000)

Georgetown Stats - week of June 14 - 20

According to the MRIS (Multiple regional information Service), the following real estate transactions have taken place in Georgetown real estate during the week 6/14-20.

11 new listings: 4 Single Family (SF) ($1,045,000- $6,995,000) and 7 Condo/Co-op (C/C) ($249,000 - $2,100,00)

5 properties came under contract: 2 SF ($759,000 - $2,195,000) and 3 C/C ($369,000 - $559,000)

5 properties went to closing during this time frame: 4 SF ($785,000 - $1,995,000) and 1 C/C ($799,000)