MoCoRealEstate

Luxury Homes Category

Most Expensive Sales in 2011

January 19th, 2012 Categories: Luxury Homes

The market for luxury homes in Montgomery County rebounded somewhat in 2011.  In 2010, we saw one resale at $10M, then the next four highest sales prices were from $3.7M to $4.oM (here’s the full article).  So how does that compare with 2011?

Here’s the top 5 sales for 2011:

• 5215 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda – $10M.  This home didn’t hit the open market and had a tax assessment value of $2M.  This is striking example that shows a home’s market value and it’s tax value are often worlds apart.
• 9121 Burdette Road, Bethesda – $5.8M.  Another one that never hit the open market.
• 5630 Wisconsin Avenue #1701, Chevy Chase – $5M.  This penthouse condo in Somerset has over 4,200 square feet of living space.  The condo fee alone is over$ 3,300/month.
• 9000 Burning Tree Road, Bethesda – $4.365M.  New construction in Bethesda.
• 9905 Bentcross Drive, Potomac – $4M.  30,000 square feet of living space with 9 bedrooms, 15 full baths, indoor pool, 6 car garage and more.  Take a peek inside.

Looking at the top five sales in the last three years, 2011 was definitely stronger than 2010 and somewhat comparable to 2009.  We’ll see how 2012 plays out.

 

Posted by Bruce Lemieux | Leave A Comment

$9.9M Home in Darnestown

August 4th, 2011 Categories: Darnestown, HOTW, Luxury Homes

This sprawling brick estate features 35 acres, 9-hole golf course, pool, tennis court, basketball court and guest house.

Nice. Very nice indeed.  The most breath-taking feature of this home, however, is it’s asking price at $9,900,000.  Darnestown and North Potomac are amazing places to live, but super-affluent buyers in this area flock to Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac (here’s an update of the luxury market in Montgomery County).

The owners paid Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Bruce Lemieux | 1 Comment »

Signs of Recovery for Luxury Homes in Montgomery County?

January 19th, 2011 Categories: Bethesda, Luxury Homes, Market Updates, Potomac

Sales of upper bracket homes have suffered over the last couple of years, yet 2010′s numbers show signs of a turnaround.  Is this the beginning of a recovery for this segment of the market, or are we seeing a dead cat bounce (apologies to cat lovers)?  Let’s take a look.

Most Expensive Sales in 2009 and 2010

Before we dig into the numbers, let’s look at the five most expensive sales in 2009 and 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Bruce Lemieux | 2 Comments »

The State of Our $2M+ Real Estate Market

September 15th, 2010 Categories: Bethesda, Luxury Homes, Market Updates, Potomac

Even in today’s market, you’ll see sprawling new estates sprout up along River Road in Potomac.  A few of our clients heard that the upper end of the market was really strong, and others heard it was really soft.  So who’s right?  Let’s take a look at the stats.

Sales History Since 2005

Our market peaked in 2005/2006, so I went back to 2005 to summarize all sales for homes listed $2M or higher:

The sales stats show the demand for $2M+ homes has steadily declined since 2006.  I noted the Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy since it heralded the beginning of the current Great Recession.  Still, credit for high-end properties  tightened-up many months before that.  My own personal benchmark was a very tough $1M closing in March of 2008.  The buyer got what could have been the last jumbo loan with 5% down offered by Bank of America.

Taking a look at annual sales better shows this trend:

Location of 2M+ Sales

It’s no surprise that most of these home sales were located in Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac.  What may be a little surprising is that practically all sales in Montgomery County occurred here – 98%.

Days to Sell

Let’s look at one more metric: time required to sell.  Compared to other price ranges, the most expensive homes have always taken longer to sell.  Since 2006, the average number of days to sell has gone up every year.

As home prices have come down, home buyers in this price segment can get a lot more house for the money.  Still, these trends tell us that downward pricing pressure is still very strong.  Contact us and we can help guide your home search in this market segment of Montgomery County.

Posted by Bruce Lemieux | Leave A Comment

The Lure of Bargains for Upper Bracket Homes

April 1st, 2009 Categories: Luxury Homes, Market Updates

Sometimes a bargain is just too seductive too ignore.  Reduced prices for upper bracket homes in Montgomery County can be a strong lure inviting buyer interest based on price alone.  Still, are these bargains really a great deal?  As with most things in life, the answer is “it depends”.

Overall for Montgomery County, there are 357 homes priced over $1.3M available, and 51 in this price range have gone under contract from January 1st through March 31st. So for the county, we currently have about 22 months’ inventory.  90% of all home sale activity in this price range takes place in the Bethesda and Potomac areas:

	Area	Available	Contracts
	Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Kensington Clarksburg, Damascus Darnestown Gaithersburg, Derwood, Mont. Village Germantown, Boyds North Potomac Olney, Ashton, Brinklow, Sandy Spring Poolesville, Dickerson, Barnesville Potomac Rockville, North Bethesda Silver Spring, Burtsonsville, Takoma Park	185 1 12 7 0 3 6 6 131 11 5	29 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 17 2 1

So is that home really a great deal for you? Bargains are definitely out there, but with so many homes available, make sure you have an in-depth understanding of the market for your areas of interest.  And, above all, make sure that a getting a “deal” doesn’t distract you from finding the right home for your needs.
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Do you have questions about upper bracket homes in Montgomery County? Call us at 301-527-9079 or send an email for more info about buying, selling and living in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Posted by Bruce Lemieux | Leave A Comment

Snapshot of Million Dollar Homes in Montgomery County

January 21st, 2009 Categories: Bethesda, Luxury Homes, Potomac

Amidst declining home values in Montgomery County, we still have a healthy market for homes in the upper brackets.  In 2008, 770 homes priced $950,000 or more sold for a total of $1.1 billion (with a ‘B’).  For all price ranges, about 8,500 homes sold for a total of $4.27 billion.  So even though 770 homes represents only about 9% of the number of homes sold, this was over 25% of the total sales volume for the year.

Over 80% of all homes in this price range sold in Bethesda, Potomac and Chevy Chase.  Of these areas, Chevy Chase has the Read the rest of this entry »

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20854 – One Zip Code, Two Worlds

December 8th, 2008 Categories: Luxury Homes, Potomac

Most people think of Potomac as an area of grand estates on large, leafy lots.  One can easily find breath-taking estate homes in Potomac, but this isn’t the only type of home here.  This is a big area with about 17,000 homes.  This zip code usually takes the top spot in Montgomery County for sales volume, and is normally in the top 10 for units sold.  As you get to know the area, Potomac has two distinct flavors. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Bruce Lemieux | Leave A Comment