On Tuesday April 9, I’ll be hosting another Ask Eli Home Buyer Workshop with my business partner Jean Ropp and local Loan Officer, Jake Ryon, with First Home Mortgage. Food and drinks will be provided! The workshop is a free and will cover: – How to use data and strategy to maximize your home purchase – How to use market trends to your advantage – The latest on interest rates and mortgage programs/products – Common mistakes to avoid and some tips for success Who is it for? Any buyer type from first-time buyer to experienced buyers Ready to purchase now or planning 18-24 month ..read more

Question: How close are the County’s tax assessments to actual market values? Answer: In January, Arlington announced that residential property tax assessments were increasing 3.2% across the entire County (this is overall, changes to individual home/land values will vary significantly). This change is meant to align with the increase in market values of Arlington homes, which based on my latest review of market performance for detached and condo properties, an overall 3.2% increase is accurate. Despite an accurate overall assessed value increase from 2023 to 2024, tax assessed values remain w ..read more

Question: Can you explain Friday’s news about the National Association of Realtor’s settlement over real estate commissions? Answer: This week’s column was supposed to be my annual analysis on property tax assessed vs market values, but on Friday, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and every major news outlet broke news of a groundbreaking settlement regarding on-going class action lawsuits over Realtor commissions, so with apologies to the person I promised my tax assessment vs market value analysis to this week, I will use this week’s column to discuss Friday’s news about the NAR se ..read more

On Tuesday April 9, I’ll be hosting another Ask Eli Home Buyer Workshop with my business partner Jean Ropp and local Loan Officer, Jake Ryon, with First Home Mortgage. Food and drinks will be provided! The workshop is a free and will cover: – How to use data and strategy to maximize your home purchase – How to use market trends to your advantage – The latest on interest rates and mortgage programs/products – Common mistakes to avoid and some tips for success Who is it for? Any buyer type from first-time buyer to experienced buyers Ready to purchase now or planning 18-24 month ..read more

Question: How is the Northern VA real estate market doing so far in 2024? Answer: It is common for there to be a sharp shift in market demand when the calendar turns to a new year and it usually happens pretty quickly. Last year, we experienced the most significant market “whiplash” we’ve had in at least a decade between Q4 2022 and Q1 2023. So far this year, the change isn’t quite as extreme as last year’s (things had slowed down more in Q4 2022 than they did at the end of 2023), but the Q1 market conditions in 2024 are proving to be more aggressive than in 2023 with higher escalations, more ..read more

Question: Is it a good idea to install a pool in my yard or buy a home with a pool? Answer: For years, selling a home with a pool was much more difficult than selling one without one, but when COVID hit, those numbers shifted as demand for homes with pools increased. Even with COVID restrictions behind us, it seems there is still much stronger demand for pools in Northern VA than there was pre-pandemic. With that said, there are still many buyers who will not consider a home with a pool or consider it a significant negative factor so many sellers will still experience a negative effect on resa ..read more

Question: What home design trends are you seeing in 2024? Answer: For this week’s article on home design trends, my partner Jean Ropp takes the reigns to review the latest in colors, patterns, materials, and more home design trends. Take it away Jean… One of the things I love most about being in the real estate business is following home design styles! To me, there is nothing quite like transforming spaces in your home to become aesthetically pleasing, functional and full of your personality. Below we have outlined the home design trends we expect to see this year. Our team reviews ..read more

Question: How did Arlington’s condo market perform in 2023? Answer: 2023 was a tough year for condo demand because interest rates for much of the year pushed monthly payments well above the cost of renting a comparable apartment. However, like the single-family market last year, listing volume was so low that it kept prices stable and condo sales moderately competitive despite lower demand. How low was listing volume? We saw about 30% fewer condos listed for sale in 2023 than in 2022 and more than 40% fewer listings last year compared to 2021. The data below looks at Arlington’s condo market ..read more

Question: How did the Arlington single-family detached housing market perform in 2023? Answer: 2023 was a great year for Econ101 lessons and showed just how true the pricing relationship is with supply and demand. Despite most buyers not wanting anything to do with buying a home given high interest rates and limited choices, home prices experienced modest gains due to a significant drop in homes being listed for sale. There were about 18% fewer single-family homes (SFH) listed for sale in Arlington in 2023 compared to 2022 and roughly 40% fewer single-family homes listed for sale compared to ..read more

Question: How many different real estate agents are doing business in Arlington? Answer: There were 2,239 real estate transactions in Arlington last year, totaling $1.91B in sales volume, well below 2022’s totals of 2,795 transactions and $2.26B in volume. There were 2,136 licensed real estate agents involved in at least one sale in Arlington in 2023, compared to 2,491 agents in 2022. Each transaction usually includes two real estate agents – one representing the buyer and another representing the seller. Question: How much weight do you put in an agent’s transaction count and sales volume wh ..read more