Colleen Barlow

Some interesting facts from the Maryland Association of Realtors were just released...

Did you know that 45% of the total Maryland County/City local government revenues come from real estate taxes?

The most current assessment for the fiscal year beginning July 2008 estimates the total vlue of Maryland real estate at almost $700 Billion.

Over the past 5 years, the value of the total assessable base of real property in Maryland has risen over 90%. I find that amazing.

My home's assessed value is currently about 15% over what I believe I could sell my home for. There are pockets around Montgomery County where homes are selling over their current assessed value, but they are few and far between. The vast majority of us are paying taxes on an assessed value far above what we could sell the home for in this economy. Personally, I'm glad my property's up for re-assessment in the first quart of 2009.

For those who are struggling with their property taxes, consider appealing your assessment. Please see my blog's earlier entries for information on how to go about doing that.

Best wishes,

Colleen Barlow, Realtor

I'm thrilled to let you know that I now offer an interactive Home Value / Market Snapshot tool which I think you'll love. It's actually similar to Zillow, in that it uses an interactive Map with icons to show you all of the homes for sale, under contract, or sold around your home. It's BETTER THAN ZILLOW, because it contains all of the homes sold in the MLS and if you click on any of the homes, you'll see the information that is in the original MLS listing, including the virtual tours, photos, and other details. Here's a screen shot of what it looks like:

If you'd like to receive one of these for your neighborhood, just go to my website:

http://www.ColleenBarlow.net and click on "MARKET SNAPSHOT".

No need to save those SOLD postcards, or search the State Department of Assessments and Taxation for home sale data with bare-bones information -- you can have an updated report emailed to you monthly if you like.

Enjoy! Colleen Barlow, Realtor, Phone: 301-717-1663

The average home sale price in Potomac, MD's 20854 zip code in April of 2008 was $1,346,380. That's up 33.17% from April of 2007. With 47 homes sold in April of 2008, compared to 44 homes which were sold in April of 2007; this statistic doesn't exactly mean that everyone in Potomac can jump for joy, thinking that their home increased in value 33.17% since last year. However, this is certainly a positive sign that our local real estate market is coming around.

The chart below shows that latest statistics available from our regional MLS system (MRIS). Average days on market are down from 122 days in 2007 to 81 days in 2008. That's a huge relief for Sellers. Imagine trying to live your life and keep your home in "showcase condition" for 3 to 4 months straight! Not an easy thing to do.

The highest priced home sold in Potomac in April of 2008 was the home at 9212 Harrington Drive which sold for $10 Million. Clearly this sale alone skewed our statistics a bit, being so far above the average sale price; but this home also sold in just 53 days! That's much lower than most expected. The lowest priced home sold was a home on Harker Drive which sold for $$587,000 in only 6 days.

So the question on everyone's minds is this: has my home in Potomac increased in value or decreased in value? At this point in time, you really need to do this analysis on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis. For the most part, using the full year of 2007's statistics, most homes have increased in value at least 3 to 4% over the last year; but many have increased significantly more. Some areas have declined slightly. Location and condition are the chief drivers of a home's value in this market. Buyers expect homes to be "near perfect" and "nicely updated" or they want a real bargain. No surprises there. Still, it's reassuring that we are seeing multiple offers on great properties.

This past weekend I held open my beautiful listing at 1511 Allview Drive in Potomac. The Open House was swamped with 52 buyers coming through the home, and this number does not include neighbors who often come by to check-out their neighbor's home. Other agents reported the same -- the buyers are coming out in droves!

Let's hope that the worst is behind us now. With mortgage loans available at great rates, it's truly a great time to buy a home -- even if you need to sell your own home first.

If you are interested in statistics for home sales in your neighborhood, please don't hesitate to contact me at Colleen.Barlow@LongandFoster.com .

Enjoy! Colleen Barlow, Realtor, Phone: 301-717-1663

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has a new feature on it's website which shows property valuation trends around the country. Although it's not as accurate as actually using our regional MLS statistical data for analyzing home values in our local area here in Montgomery County, Maryland; it's certainly interesting to view and "play" with the calculator they've posted. Check it out here...

http://www.ofheo.gov/hpi.aspx#

For a free competitive home market analysis, just send me an email at Colleen.Barlow@LongandFoster.com

Enjoy! Colleen Barlow, Realtor, W.C.&A.N. Miller Realtors, a Long & Foster Co., Potomac, MD 20854

I've been helping people appeal their property tax values lately by giving them a Competitive Market Analysis of their homes' values. It's really surprising to almost everyone that home values have increased at double digit rates in many areas of Montgomery County. The numbers are somewhat difficult to interpret since homes sales volume has decreased significantly over the last year. Still, here's a sampling of how much the average home sales price increased or decreased in various zip codes locally between February 2007 and February 2008:

Zip Code Percent Increase in Ave. Home Sales Values 2/2007 to 2/2008

20854 (Potomac) 15.58%

20817 (Bethesda) 28.72%

20815 (Chevy Chase) 36.92%

20850 (Rockville) -4.56%

20874 (Gaithersburg) -7.82%

20832 (Olney) -7.59%

For information on your neighborhood, please don't hesitate to email me at Colleen.Barlow@LongandFoster.com

Enjoy! Colleen Barlow, Realtor, W.C.&A.N. Miller Realtors, a Long & Foster Co., Potomac, MD

Direct Phone: 301-717-1663 or Broker's Office Phone: 301-299-6000