Contact MargaretHas the Real Estate Market Stabilized?
March 1st, 2010 Categories: Market Updates
3–COUNTY YEAR END REAL ESTATE STATISTICS
Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Howard County, Maryland
Prince George’s County, Maryland
Our regional multiple listing system, The Metropolitan Regional Information Services, Inc. (MRIS), tracks real estate sales and periodically makes the numbers available to members. You’ve seen my monthly reports for Crofton and other nearby zipcodes here on Focus On Crofton and my Maryland Real Estate Blog, and you know that I like to use this information to compile charts and graphs of several years or several months to help you put those numbers in perspective.
For this year-end report, I’m approaching the real estate market on a more macro level – with a county-wide report which includes the three counties where I list and sell homes. These numbers represent only properties that were listed on MRIS (the majority of real estate sales), both detached and attached homes, in a broad price range ($100,000 – $5 million).
Days on Market have leveled off for Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties and even dropped slightly in Howard County. Of course, 2005 was a record year, so I don’t think it’s realistic to expect those levels again for a very long time… maybe decades.
Sold Prices (both average and median) are lower now than any of the four previous years but, fortunately, the drop has not been nearly as dramatic as other parts of the country have experienced. I speculate that the BRAC factor and government jobs throughout the region have helped this area in that regard.
Units Sold is a category that seems to have bottomed out and shown a slight bump from 2008–2009 in Anne Arundel and Howard Counties and a significant increase in Prince George’s County:
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Up 8.75% in Anne Arundel County
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Up 7.64% in Howard County
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Up 42.98% in Prince George’s County
My crystal ball is a little fuzzy, as to what we should expect in 2010, so I can’t realistically declare that the worst is over. I’m cautiously optimistic, however, that we will hold steady or show a slightly (less than 10%) improvement in these areas. Frankly, though, it could go either way depending on interference in the market by the federal government. If unemployment numbers go up, for example, the real estate market will suffer.
The economy and politics are just two examples of factors outside our control that impact the real estate market. That’s why it’s so very important for you to maximize the factors that are within our control by choosing an experienced real estate professional to help you buy or sell a home. But that’s a topic or another day…
If you’d like information more specific to your immediate neighborhood, click on Market Snapshot. For an accurate estimate of your home value, an inspection of your property will be necessary to ascertain its interior and exterior condition, size, features, location and other factors, as they relate to other properties currently on the market and recently sold.
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FocusOnCrofton.com is your one-stop source for information about Crofton, Maryland, and the surrounding area. It’s my way of keeping current residents informed about their community while also attracting relocating home buyers to the Crofton area (including Bowie, Crownsville, Davidsonville, Fort Meade, Gambrills, Millersville and Odenton). Please feel free to contact me any time for more information.
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Many Options for Working Out in Crofton
February 26th, 2010 Categories: Businesses
I finally did it. I joined a gym. (Long overdue, I know.)
Signing up for a membership at Gold’s Gym in Crofton was Step #1 for me. That was about 10 days ago. I even went so far as to call about scheduling my orientation with a trainer, but they didn’t have anyone available when it was convenient for me. (Does it sound like I’m making excuses?) Okay, I admit it… I could probably figure out a treadmill on my own and start doing some cardiio now, even before that orientation.
There’s no shortage of places for Crofton area residents to work out nearby. Besides Gold’s Gym, there’s Lifetime Fitness in Gambrills, SportFit in Bowie, and a number of other facilities.
If I had small children, I’d probably choose SportFit because they offer day camp for school age children whenever there’s a school holiday… that would be a tie-breaker for me. But I don’t have small children at home any more and I chose Gold’s Gym because it’s the closest and least expensive (thus eliminating two excuses for not joining).
There’s an ideal walking/jogging route of about 3 1/2 miles around Crofton Parkway for those who prefer a less structured workout. And you’ll find a paved par course at Crofton Park, off Route 424 (Davidsonville Road), west of Crofton Junior High.
Does it count that we have two golf courses in Crofton plus several tennis courts and swimming pools? Really, there are many options for working out here in the greater Crofton area.
I’ve finally run out of excuses for not getting enough exercise, and misery loves company. Will you join me at Golds Gym in Crofton?
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Win $500 by Naming This Company
February 24th, 2010 Categories: Random Topics
This is a personal request, having nothing to do with Crofton MD real estate. If that turns you off, just scroll down to read the next post. If you’d like to win $500 or just learn about my sons’ new business venture, read on…
My two sons need your help to name their new business and you could win $500 if your suggestion is selected. I told the my FocusOnCrofton readers could probably come up with some good ideas, and there might even be some folks here who would like to become beta-testers of their product as it comes out of development.
Here’s a little background…
Do you know where your kids are?
They may be sitting right across the room from you at this very moment either texting or playing electronic games on their phone. …Or perhaps chatting on Facebook (instead of working on homework) at their computers. That seems harmless enough, right? After all, they’re in the same room with you so they couldn’t be exchanging inappropriate texts or emails…
Do you respect their privacy, or do you occasionally pick up their cell phones and take a quick glance at their recent activity - for example, the nature of their text messages? My son did that one day, and discovered that his 15-year old son was being solicited by a sexual predator - a 43-year old middle school teacher who (’til this moment) had never been caught.
This individual had “friended” him on Facebook and they subsequently developed an online friendship which spilled over into texting. Fortunately, my son interrupted this so-called friendship before it evolved into anything more serious. (Other families were not so lucky, it turns out.)
Now this former teacher is sitting in solitary confinement in a Maryland prison for 8 long years (32 of his 40-yr sentence was suspended at sentencing), after a plea deal acknowledging guilt to one count of sexual solicitation of a minor (my grandson) and three counts of third degree sex offense (other children discovered during investigation of the solicitation charge). He will be on probation for five years after his release and he will forever be required to register as a sex-offender.
One observant parent brought an end to this man’s years of preying on children and teens.
As a result of that experience, my two sons are starting a business to:
1) Educate parents about the danger of un-supervised communication technology in their kids’ hands and
2) Develop new technology that will track traffic on designated phone and Internet accounts to alert parents know if their child’s online communication is “inappropriate”.
This is an early stage start-up with lofty goals, the first round of funding under their belts, and much work to be done. Naming the company was not their first priority, but now the time has come… and I told them FocusOnCrofton readers might be able to help.
If you want to post a name suggestion in your comment, I will pass it on. BUT you must submit it online at NamingForce.com to be eligible for winning the $500. You can also view other name suggestions at that site.
Thanks everybody!
Originally posted by the author at Maryland Real Estate Blog.com
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How to Get Rid of Ice Dams on Your Crofton Home
February 22nd, 2010 Categories: Random Topics
An ice dam is “a ridge of ice that forms at the edge of a roof and prevents melting snow (water) from draining off the roof. The water that backs up behind the dam can leak into a home and cause damage to walls, ceilings, insulation, and other areas,” according a University of Minnesota website.
The local CBS channel, WJZ Channel 13, reported last week that this snow melting and re-freezing on rooftops is leading to a whole lot of damage. They quoted Matt Smith of All About Home Improvements, who said “the water’s melting underneath the snow is still running down the roof. When there’s a dam, the water has no place to go, other than to just keep backing up and backing up.”
Concerned about the frozen mess covering gutters on my own home (photo), I did a little exploring online and found a report by Minneapolis home inspector Reuben Saltsman. He tried a number of different things to address this problem, so you don’t have to, and provided photos as well as the pros and cons of each. These include the following…
Axe, ice pick, roof tablets, salt filled panty hose, and heat cables.
I won’t tell you his conclusion about the best solution, because I really do think you’ll enjoy reading what he has to say about each in How to Get Rid of Ice Dams.
Why pay attention to this? According to Wikipedia, snow which cannot drain properly off your roof may result in
- Leaking roof
- Wet, ineffective insulation
- Stained or cracked plaster or drywall
- Rotting timber
- Stained, blistered or peeling paint
… not to mention mold. So take a minute to read Reuben’s blog (click on the link above),view his photos, and perhaps even read the following related posts:
RELATED POSTS:
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Ice Dams (University of Minnesota Extension)
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Fast Fixes for Ice Dams (This Old House Magazine)
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FocusOnCrofton.com is your one-stop source for information about Crofton, Maryland, and the surrounding area. It’s my way of keeping current residents informed about their community while also attracting relocating home buyers to the Crofton area (including Bowie, Crownsville, Davidsonville, Fort Meade, Gambrills, Millersville and Odenton). Please feel free to contact me any time for more information.
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Odenton, Gambrills, and Davidsonville Real Estate News
February 19th, 2010 Categories: Real Estate
Crofton MD real estate sales were up 160% in January 2010 (13) compared to January 2009 (5), but what about the Greater Crofton Area?
Units Sold:
Odenton - 16, down 20% from 20 sold in January 2009
Gambrills – 1, down 50% from 2
Davidsonville – 5, up 15% from 2
Crofton real estate statistics improved in virtually every category last month. How did nearby communities compare?
Days on Market:
Odenton – 144, up 22% from 118 in January 2009
Gambrills – 219, up 133% from $394,375
Davidsonville – 126, up 9.57% from 115
Crofton – 86, down 47.56% from 164
Average Sold Price:
Odenton – $322,005, relatively stable with only a 2.33% drop from $329,690 in January 2009
Gambrills – $285,000, down nearly 28% from $394,375
Davidsonville – $759,400, up 8.74% from $699,000
Crofton – $15,552, up 17.57% from $268,400
Median Sold Price:
Odenton – $281,000, down 7.18% from $302,745 in January 2009
Gambrills – $285,000, down nearly 28%
Davidsonville – $749,000, up 7.15% from $699,000
Crofton – 290,000, up 16% from $250,000
With only one sale in Gambrills (21054) during the month of January, there’s really not enough information to draw any conclusion(s) except that the absorption rate in Gambrills is over 4 years, with just one of the 51 homes on the market selling each month - and that assumes no new listings come on the market during that period, which is unlikely. Let’s hope this is an anomaly, and that real estate picks up in Gambrills during the spring months.
The Greater Crofton Area, as a whole, just didn’t do as well as Crofton (21114) in January. I think we should keep that champagne on ice and hold off any celebration until the entire community has similar positive news to report.
Home buyers, what do these numbers mean to you?
If I were a betting woman, I would bet you can get a better “deal” on a home outside the 21114 zipcode, because Crofton homesellers will be feeling a little cocky after such a great month.
I recommend you check out the detached homes for sale in Four Seasons Estates to get the best bang for the buck in this area.
Home sellers, what do these numbers mean to you?
It’s still a “buyer’s market”, even in the 21114 zipcode. Homebuyers are still in the driver’s seat when it comes to demanding their price, terms and condition because the home inventory is very high.
A sub-text that isn’t evident in these statistics is the impact of the temporary tax credit for both first-time and move-up home buyers; once the April 30 deadline passes, it’s likely we’ll see a negative turn in the real estate market.
If you want to sell your home any time soon, you must be aggressive in your pricing, terms, and marketing for the next 75 days.
While it’s good for you to be familiar with real estate statistics in your zipcode, it’s better for you to know the ones for your own neighborhood. If you’re thinking of selling or buying a home, contact me or details about specific neighborhoods or types of homes (detached, condos, townhomes).
RELATED LINK: Crofton Real Estate Sales Up 160% in January 2010
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FocusOnCrofton.com is your one-stop source for information about Crofton, Maryland, and the surrounding area. It’s my way of keeping current residents informed about their community while also attracting relocating home buyers to the Crofton area (including Bowie, Crownsville, Davidsonville, Fort Meade, Gambrills, Millersville and Odenton). Please feel free to contact me any time for more information.
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