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MoCo Areas
- Bethesda
- Clarksburg
- Darnestown
- Gaithersburg
- Germantown
- North Potomac
- Olney
- Poolesville
- Potomac
- Rockville
- Silver Spring
Article Topics
Past Articles
- August 2010 (3)
- July 2010 (8)
- June 2010 (22)
- May 2010 (15)
- April 2010 (4)
- March 2010 (5)
- February 2010 (3)
- January 2010 (8)
- December 2009 (53)
- November 2009 (4)
- October 2009 (5)
- September 2009 (4)
- August 2009 (21)
- July 2009 (6)
- June 2009 (14)
- May 2009 (6)
- April 2009 (5)
- March 2009 (3)
- February 2009 (7)
- January 2009 (8)
- December 2008 (5)
- November 2008 (8)
Silver Spring, Takoma Park and Burtonsville
The zip codes of Silver Spring cover a huge area mostly north of the Beltway and east of Georgia Avenue to Prince Georges County. The area is shown in red and includes the zip codes 20901, 20902, 20903, 20904, 20905, 20906 and 20910. Burtsonville (zip code 20866) is located in the far northeast corner of the county. Takoma Park (zip code 20912) is in the far southeast corner adjacent to Prince Georges County and Washington D.C.
Public school assignments for this area are summarized below. Always verify a home’s school assignment at MCPS.
- Silver Spring - Northeast Consortium, Downcounty Consortium, Bethesda-Chevy Chase H.S., and Rockville H.S.
- Burtonsville - Northeast Consortium
- Takoma Park - Downcounty Consortium
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| Silver Spring, Burtonsville and Takoma Park have great communities to call ‘home’. Call anytime at 301-527-9079 or send an email for help buying and selling in this great area. |  |
Silver Spring Contracts in 2010
June 14th, 2010 Categories: Silver Spring
The overall contract activity in the Silver Spring area is 36% higher than 2009 strongly indicating the real estate market here has stabilized. Transaction volume is higher in all price ranges with most sales for homes priced under $600,000.
Contact us for information about the market in Silver Spring and see these stats for other areas in Montgomery County.
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Silver Spring Pricing Trends
August 9th, 2009 Categories: Silver Spring
Over the last six months, contracts in Silver Spring are up over 54% compared to last year. With a ton of distress sales, contracts for homes priced $300,000 or less was nearly 200% of 2008’s activity. Over 90% of the sales this year have been for homes listed $500,000 or less. Here’s a breakdown of contract activity by price range:
See the overall Montgomery County market update and the Silver Spring area’s inventory by price range from June’s market update.
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| Do you have questions about the Silver Spring real estate market? Call us at 301-527-9079 or send an email for more info about buying, selling and living in Silver Spring, Maryland. |  |
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Home Prices in Bethesda-Chevy Chase H.S.
August 1st, 2009 Categories: Bethesda, Schools, Silver Spring
The B-CC school page is the 4th most popular on this site. The overall market is pretty balanced for the Battlin’ Barons with 359 contracts over the last six months with 255 homes currently available indicating just over 4 months’ available inventory. 32% of the contracts were for condos and 65% single family homes.
Here’s the breakdown of contracts over the last six months and available inventory by price range:
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| Looking for homes in a specific school district in Montgomery County? Call us at 301-527-9079 or send an email and we can establish a custom home search. | |
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Silver Spring Market Update
June 28th, 2009 Categories: Silver Spring
More homes sell in this part of Montgomery County than any other area. The relatively high inventory for homes priced under $200,000 isn’t intuitive given that the entry level market in Montgomery County is so hot right now. The explanation — this segment is dominated by condos. Financing for condos is tougher with higher down payments and many condo developments don’t qualify for FHA loans. When FHA isn’t an option, a buyer needs more money down – 20% or more. Condo fees also diminish a home’s affordability. Take condos out of the mix and inventory is around 2.5 months for homes priced under $300,000.
Compared to the entire Montgomery County real estate market, demand for homes in just about every segment is slightly lower. Sales for homes priced under $600,000 make up 95% of all sales activity here.
These stats show inventory in late June 2009 and the number of contracts for the previous six months.
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| Do you have questions about the Silver Spring real estate market? Call us at 301-527-9079 or send an email for more info about buying, selling and living in and around Silver Spring, Maryland. | |
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Three-times the sales compared to last year? Isn’t this a slow market?
November 20th, 2008 Categories: Foreclosures, Germantown, Market Updates, Silver Spring
Entry-level housing in Montgomery County is heating-up. Looking at the last four weeks, the number of contracts in many parts of Montgomery County is more than tripled compared to this time last year for homes priced under $300,000. As inventory has climbed, foreclosures and distress sales have applied downward pressure on prices in this segment.
So is this a harbinger that we’re reaching the illusive “bottom” of the real estate market? To me, it’s clear this is a sign that demand for homes in Montgomery County is fundamentally strong. For most people who live and work here, a home purchase has simply been too expensive. As prices have come down, homes are now within reach to more people. So it’s a great sign that buyers are getting into the market in such a turbulent time. Still, there’s many homes on the market. For the nine zip codes included in the chart, there are nearly 1,400 homes available in that price range. If the sales volume continues to increase over the next several months as new homes enter the market, then we can be more confident that we’re finding the floor in our market.
What trends do you see for entry level housing in Montgomery County? Are you beginning to be hopeful, or do you see harder times ahead? Add a comment and let me know your thoughts.
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Montgomery County foreclosure hotspots
November 3rd, 2008 Categories: Clarksburg, Foreclosures, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Silver Spring
With foreclosures and declining home prices, news on the real estate market isn’t good. True, our local real estate market is under pressure; but Montgomery County is much healthier than markets in California, Las Vegas and Florida that we always hear about. Foreclosures in our area are mostly concentrated in two areas: entry-level housing, and areas that experienced a lot of new construction in the early 2000s.
Right now, about 50% of all available homes in Montgomery County are priced under $400,000 in the zip codes of Silver Spring, Gaithersburg and Germantown. As price appreciation stopped, marginal buyers with riskier loans drove-up foreclosure rates which pressured prices lower for all owners in this segment. Unlike other parts of the country, however, homes are still selling here with over 2,200 homes sold in 2008. With 6 to 8.5 months’ available inventory, there’s a lot available – but buyers are still buying.
Only a few areas in the County saw big increases in inventory from new construction. In Clarksburg for example, home builders added a flood of new homes starting around 2002. Fueled by fast appreciation and significant investor activity, demand for new construction went up even more. When appreciation stopped, inventory shot up and values started heading down. The result today – about a years’ worth of inventory is on the market with approximately 130 homes available. At least 1/3 are bank-owned or distress sales, 1/3 are new construction, and about 1/3 are typical home resales. Again, Clarksburg is the exception here. As a whole, our County has not recently added significant new inventory.
So what does all this mean if you have to sell a home in today’s market? It’s easy to be anxious if you need to sell in the coming months, but know that homes are selling here and buyers are getting loans. Still, selling a home is hard work and it can take longer to find your buyer. You must understand your local market segment and how to position your home in it. For market segments with a large number of foreclosures, home sellers must price their home aggressively. In segments with stronger demand, sellers can stick with a premium price provided they maintain good showing activity and positive feedback. In all cases, your home must show well to stand out. With so much selection, buyers are more selective than ever.
If you are planning a sale in the coming months, give us a call and we can review activity for your specific area and recommend cost-effective improvements if needed.
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