Leesburg Housing Market Update

Here’s a look at what’s going on with the Leesburg housing market (20175 and 20176 zip codes)…

Leesburg Median Price

The median price of single family and town homes in Leesburg has been bouncing up and down between just over $600,000 and $640,000 for over 2 years. Over the past few months, we’ve seen it go from about $608,000 to about $625,000.

On the other hand, the median price of condos in Leesburg has steadily dropped over 60 percent since the spring of 2007. The good news is that the median price hit about $245,000 at the very end of 2008 and has been going sideways, if not slightly up since then.

Leesburg Inventory

Single family and town home inventory in Leesburg was cut in half from the summer of 2007 to the spring of this year. We’ve seen an increase in single family and town home inventory over the past three months, but it looks like the rate of new inventory coming on the market may be slowing down as the summer months approach.

Condo inventory in Leesburg is down over 40 percent from this time last year. It looks like it showing signs of a potential plateau, but we’ll have to wait and see to know for sure.

Leesburg Housing Market Overview

It’s hard to generalize the Leesburg housing market because even two neighboring communities within the same zip code can have completely different housing market conditions. One example is River Creek versus Potomac Station. Another is Beacon Hill versus Shenstone Farm. Yet another is Tavistock Farm versus Stratford Landing.

Generally speaking, the Leesburg housing market is stabilizing a bit thanks to lower inventory and more buyer demand. But how much depends on the specific community/subdivision within Leesburg and price point. Some properties, such as town homes and entry-level single family homes are seeing multiple offers left and right while the $800K- $1M+ properties in communities such as River Creek, Lansdowne, Shenstone Farm and Beacon Hill are seeing less overall activity due to a much smaller buyer pool at that price point.

Median prices will probably continue their sideways trend while inventory levels level out or possibly drop a bit during the summer months depending on the type of property and price point.

Leesburg Real Estate Market Statistics - October 2008

Here are the October 2008 statistics for the Leesburg, Virginia real estate market. The statistics cover supply (new listings) and demand (solds). The statistics are broken down by the two Leesburg zip codes, 20175 and 20175.

Leesburg - 20175

The 20175 zip code includes areas such as Greenway Farm, Kincaid Forest, Woodlea Manor and Stratford…

   

The number of new listings in October '08 was slightly higher than in September '08, but slightly lower than in October '07. On a good-to-bad scale, it's about neutral.

The number of properties that sold (went under contract) in October '08 was slightly lower than the previous month, but was higher than the previous year. This is about neutral overall as well.

Leesburg - 20176

The 20176 zip code includes areas such as Potomac Station, Lansdowne, River Creek, Exeter and Sycamore Hill…

 

The number of new listings in October '08 was about the same as in September '08, but significantly lower than in October '07.

The number of properties that sold (went under contract) in October '08 was exactly the same as the previous month, but much higher than the previous year.

With new listings and buyer demand remaining the same as in the previous month, it's about neutral on the bad-to-good scale, but there has been a great improvement year-over-year.

Overall, the Leesburg real estate market is not showing as much of a September-to-October improvement as the Ashburn or Sterling real estate markets, it's continuing to show great year-over-year improvement. 

Leesburg Real Estate Market Statistics (20175, 20176) - September 2008

Here are the September 2008 statistics for the Leesburg real estate market (20175 and 20176 zip codes):

Leesburg - 20175 - September 2008

• New listings = 52. This is a 20 percent decrease in new inventory as compared to September 2007
• Solds (Under Contract) = 36. This is a 45 increase in buyer demand as compared to September 2007

Leesburg - 20176 - September 2008

• New listings = 101. This is 29 percent decrease in new inventory as compared to September 2007
• Solds (Under Contract) = 71. This is a 236 percent increase in buyer demand as compared to September 2007

Though buyer demand increased significantly year-over-year in the 20175 zip code of Ashburn, it really spiked in the 20176 zip code. These statistics confirm what my clients and I have been seeing and feeling while searching for and writing offers on properties - there are less properties to choose from and more buyers fighting for the same property.

Related Articles

Sterling Real Estate Market Statistics (20164, 20165, 20166) - September 2008

Ashburn Real Estate Market Statistics (20147, 20148) - September 2008

No "Summer Slump" For Loudoun County Real Estate In 2008

Loudoun County Real Estate Market Statistics - 1st Half 2008 vs 2007

Loudoun Real Estate Inventory Levels Well Below National Average

Leesburg Real Estate Market Match-Up: 20175 vs 20176

We’ve already determined the winners of the real estate market match-ups in Sterling and Ashburn, but we have yet to find out who the winner is in Leesburg. On one side of Leesburg, we have 20175. On the other, we have 20176. Just like we did in Sterling and Ashburn, we’ll be taking a look at inventory/supply and buyer demand.

And they’re off…

20175 zip code:

• The number of new listings that came on the market in 2008 (1/1-6/9) was 393 versus 441 during the same period 2007. That’s a decrease of 11 percent.
• The number of homes that sold in 2008 (1/1-6/9) was 156 versus 224 during the same period in 2007. That’s a decrease of 30 percent.

20176 zip code:

• The number of new listings that came on the market in 2008 (1/1-6/9) was 777 versus 851 during the same period 2007. That’s a decrease of 9 percent.
• The number of homes that sold in 2008 (1/1-6/9) was 384 versus 365 during the same period in 2007. That’s an increase of 5 percent.

Though the 20175 zip code had a decrease of 11 percent in inventory, buyer demand was down a whopping 30 percent.

On the other hand, the 20176 zip code saw a decrease of 9 percent in inventory while buyer demand was up 5 percent.

So who gets to hold the checkered flag?

Although 20175 had the greatest decrease in inventory, 20176 had a huge advantage when it came to buyer demand. Therefore, 20176 is the official winner of the June ‘08 Leesburg real estate market match-up.

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Related Posts:

20148 Beats 20147 In Ashburn Real Estate Market Conditions Bout

Loudoun County Real Estate Inventory Down, Buyer Demand Up

Loudoun County Buyer Demand Up 19 Percent In May

$1M+ Homes In Ashburn and Leesburg; A Different Market Altogether

The $1M+ home market in Ashburn and Leesburg is a tough one (at least for sellers) and is much different than the rest of the real estate market in Loudoun County. At this price point, the buyer pool is much smaller. And the amount of inventory heavily outweighs the amount of demand making it much more a buyer’s market then the lower price brackets.

Let’s look at the numbers:

Ashburn

• There are currently 18 properties for sale for $1M or more
• There is only $1M+ property currently under contract
• There have only been five $1M+ properties sell within the last 12 months
• Based on the demand over the last year, there is a 36 month supply of $1M+ properties

Leesburg

• There are currently 60 properties for sale $1M or more
• There are three $1M+ properties currently under contract
• There have been thirty-four $1M+ properties sell within the last 12 months
• Based on the demand over the last year, there is a 20.5 month supply of $1M+ properties

The most important statistic is the number of months supply. Ashburn and Leesburg have a 36 month and 20.5 month (respectively) supply of $1M+ properties, while Loudoun County as a whole has a 7.6 month supply. That’s quite a difference.

If you’re a buyer in the $1M+ price range, you have the pick of the litter at the moment. If you’re a seller of a $1M+ property, it’s time to get aggressive if you want to sell your property.

Loudoun County Foreclosure/Bank Owned Property Update

As of this morning, the percentage of properties for sale that are in foreclosure/bank owned in Loudoun County, specifically Ashburn, Sterling and Leesburg is:

• Ashburn - 5 percent
• Sterling - 11 percent
• Leesburg - 11 percent

This is an increase over last month and the highest in several years.

One reason why the perecentage is increasing is because we’re looking at the active properties. More new foreclosures are coming on the market than are selling.

These bank owned foreclosures are not selling nearly as quickly as the other properties because they are not yet priced at a point that makes them very appealing to investors or home buyers. Once you factor in what it would cost to bring them up to the standards of comparable properties, you’re just below or at the same total cost. The difference is that you can just buy a move-in condition property and save yourself the time and hassle of getting contractors out to fix it.

Now, as far as a rental investment, there are some that are appealing. With the amount of rent you can bring in based on the current rental market along with the price point and the monthly payment based on a 20 percent down investor loan, you would break even if not have positive cash flow. But once again, we go back to having to spend the time and energy to fix it up along with at least one if not two months worth of carrying costs (PITI and HOA dues). It seems that most investors that are in it for the long haul (rentals) are not willing to spend this kind of time and energy.

The reason why these foreclosures are still not priced aggressively enough is that the banks have not been beat up enough to drop the price to where the market will absorb them. Once they carry these properties for an extended period of time and the number of foreclosure they have goes up even more, they may start to realize that they need to adjust the prices in order to get the properties off their books.

Time will soon start taking its toll on banks though. We’ll start seeing foreclosures/bank owned properties coming down in price and banks will start accepting offers that they’re currently rejecting because they’re "too low".