Original Source: DC’s Colonial Village: Once More, It’s Slow But Stable

Last year, I took at special look at some neighborhood statistics for the third quarter. I’ll do the same now. Why? Because the third quarter is a vulnerable time where trends show up in a more pronounced way. The market typically isn’t as slow as it is at the end of the year, but late summer/early fall is relocation time and often reflects strategic and economic decision home sellers and buyers make–in reaction to the local as well as national economy.

Let’s start with the market activity in Colonial Village. What do we see here?

First of all, it seems that the number of closed sales has been stable (as compared to the same season in previous years). The fact that fewer properties went under contract is easily explained by the low volume, however. Not a single new listing came on the market in Colonial Village during the third quarter!

But there also is a bit of really good news: For those transactions that closed, the prices have not only been stable, but actually increased by 10% (average closed price was $775,000 versus an average original list price of 828,225, making for a sold-to-list ratio of 93.6%). The average time on the market was still a little more than 3 months before a property went under contract (99 days compared to 111 days last year). This number will be higher when we count the houses that have been on the market for a long time or that were withdrawn before they could sell, and it is higher right now.

Sellers continue to price their properties a little higher than they should, although a gap of 6-7% seems a lot more realistic than the numbers we hear from other markets.

(As always, Shepherd Park and Rock Creek Forest stats will be next.)

© 2011, Catarina Bannier