Potomac — Homes sales are expected to increase this spring, say area realtors. It’s a sign that buyers are feeling increasingly secure about home purchases.
“There is more confidence now,” said Andy Alderdice, a real estate agent with Long & Foster/ WC&AN Miller. “Gas prices are down. Employment is good. People want to move up, sell their old house and buy a new house.”
The sales spike also be due to an increase in homes going on the market. Agents say buyers have had fewer choices and possibly decided to wait until options were more plentiful. “Even last year, there were buyers but there wasn’t a lot of inventory. It wasn’t really a buyers’ or a sellers’ market,” said Christy Taylor , a real estate agent for Re/Max Towncenter At Park Potomac.
Spring typically ushers in an inventory increase. “Let’s face it, the vast majority of Potomac is single family homes and most people will wait until February, March and April to put their home on the market because they look better when the grass is greener and the yard looks pretty,” said David DeSantis, a partner at TTR Sotheby's International Realty.
“The next three to four months will indicate the health of the market,” added Taylor.
Home sales in Potomac actually increased last month as 57 Potomac homes sold, an 18.8 percent increase from December 2013. Property values also rose between 2013 and 2014. “The subdivision with the greatest year to date gain in value between January 2013 to December 2014 was Potomac Village where the average property increased by 22.9 percent.” said Taylor. “Piney Glen Village subdivision came in second with a 22.7 percent increase between 2013 and 2014.”
“Gas prices are down. Employment is good. People want to move up, sell their old house and buy a new house.”
— Andy Alderdice, real estate agent with Long & Foster/ WC&AN Miller.
Neighborhoods like Potomac Village that offer a shorter commuter to Washington D.C. than other areas, are popular among buyers. “The southeast side of Potomac tends to sell better than the northwest side going further out into Maryland,” said David DeSantis, a partner a TTR Sotheby's International Realty.
Areas that offer the best of both worlds also attract buyers. “River Falls has always been a consistently a popular neighborhood because of the proximity to D.C. and Virginia, but you still have the country feel. You have wonderful parks and the canal,” said Alderdice.
A slight increase in sales and expected increase in inventory have left real estate agents optimistic. “My phone has been ringing a lot … with agents asking about what’s coming on the market,” said Alderdice. “I have a listing in River Falls that is coming on the market soon and I am getting calls and it is not yet on the market. We start our early spring market in February, if the weather cooperates.”
“The upper end of the market [homes priced at more than $ 2 million] has been very slow,” said Potomac-based real estate agent Michael Matese of Long and Foster. “But inventory is starting to come on the market. We’re in that gap time right between the holidays and the spring market.”
Many of the large, single family homes in Potomac belong to the baby boomer generation “who want to sell the house and move to a smaller home or condo,” said DeSantis.”
“You’re not seeing as many young families coming into Potomac,” added Matese. “They want to be closer to the city rather and have a shorter commute than have a 10- to 15,000-square-foot home and two acres of land. It’s much less maintenance.”
DeSantis, however, underscored the fact that the bottom line in homes sales hasn’t changed: “We all like to think that we have the most beautiful house in the neighborhood,” he said. “But people have access to more information than they’ve ever had before. The can find out how much other homes sold for … so, it becomes very important to price your property correctly and do everything you can to make sure it shows well.”