The Post noticed the uptick in March sales in Prince William County:
"After he had browsed more than 30 houses in Northern Virginia, the price and location of the single-family house off Liberia Lane made the first-time home buyer move to Manassas.
'There were a lot more options in Manassas than in other areas,' said the 24-year-old, who looked in Leesburg, Centreville, Ashburn and Alexandria before buying the $305,000 house. 'This was a bank-owned property at a good price. It was an offer I couldn't pass up.'
. . .
Because of the number of foreclosures in Prince William, Manassas and Manassas Park -- 659 in March -- a lot more affordable houses are on the market, real estate agents said.
Garvey, who moved from Tallahassee, said he was attracted to Manassas because real estate taxes are lower, the neighborhood is nice and it's close to his government job. Although Garvey said he didn't expect to buy a house at age 24, the prices here vs. in Florida made it a better option."
14 comments:
Discrepancy?
In their front-page article on foreclosures on Sunday, April 27, the Post stated there were 1,497 foreclosure filings in March in PWC, up from 306 in February. But this article said six hundred something in March. Why the discrepancy?
I triple-checked, and yep, this article says
659 foreclosures in March 2008
But the one on April 27 says
1,497 foreclosures in March 2008
Up from 284 in March 2007.
Which number is right?
Both are impressive, but 1500, up from 300 in February 2008, is a jump of five times, and there were 3,300 or so all of last year. Does anyone here have a way to check the numbers again?
Which Government does he have a job with? Has he tried communting from there? I am guessing Tallahassee has just a bit less traffic than DC in the mornings.
Tabitha,
Do you have a link? I can't find the April 27 article you're talking about. Thanks.
Hey there are plenty of Government Jobs in Tysons, Chantilly, Reston and Herdon. I've got one of them and live in PWC. Commute time today: ~20 minutes.
$305K sounds inexpensive now, but I'm seeing homes for less than that in Manassas. If he's in it for a long time, he should be fine, but short term, it's a falling knife.
$305K sounds inexpensive now, but I'm seeing homes for less than that in Manassas. If he's in it for a long time, he should be fine, but short term, it's a falling knife.
305k in Manassas sounds cheap because of the absurd prices in the area over the past few years.
In realty, its very expensive considering how much land is going for in PWC.
I mean, I could get a 3500 sq/ft, decked out ( hardwoods, granite, 10ft ceilings ) house built on an acre of land for 300k in PWC right now.
Harriet,
Here's the link--sorry, I don't know how to shrink it:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/26/AR2008042601288.html
It's called "As Foreclosed Homes Empty, Crime Arrives", by Jonathan Mummolo and Bill Brubaker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, April 27, 2008; Page A01.
Unfortunately, the online edition does not seem to have the paper edition-graphic that is a chart, cited to RealtyTrac, that has all the numbers for all the local counties. I'll try to reproduce it here:
The District
5 foreclosures 3/2007
307 foreclosures 3/2008
6,040% increase
Fairfax County
158 foreclosures 3/2007
1,114 foreclosures 3/3008
605% increase
Loudon County
190 3/2007
504 3/2008
165% increase
Prince William County
284 3/2007
1,497 3/2008
427% increase
Frederick County
31 3/2007
196 3/2008
532% increase
Montgomery County
191 3/2007
641 3/2008
236% increase
Prince George's County
275 2/2007
1,128 3/2008
310% increase
The other numbers that I have are from an article ("More Families Affected by Foreclosures") in the Prince William County insert from March 27, 2008, which stated there were 306 foreclosures in February 2008 in PWC, up from 140 in February 2007. It also stated 5.5% of all housing was in some stage of foreclosure in the county as of that month.
I was just really surprised by the vast difference in the March numbers, both cited to RealtyTrac, right?
Doug said:
"I mean, I could get a 3500 sq/ft, decked out ( hardwoods, granite, 10ft ceilings ) house built on an acre of land for 300k in PWC right now."
How much extra to have the utilities brought out, the road built, and most importantly, to get a general contractor to plan and oversee the whole thing?
I have a friend who can't understand why paintings go for what they go for. He always says he could just as easily paint something on a canvass for cheaper ...
I actually thought the same thing.
300 k ?
Is the 1 arce next to landfill or ontop of Indian burial ground?
129 k is the cheapest I could find for 1 arce of land in Manassas on realtor.com
You can then get 1136 sq ft log cabin built. For 190 k, not including well, landscaping and other labor costs.
http://www.goldeneagleloghomes.com/
log_home_packages/cost_examples
/countryside.asp
I actually want to have one of these built. Just not in Manassas.
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