“Detour (There’s a Muddy Road Ahead)” by Paul Westerland is a western swing song that in my view best describes the current housing market in McLean and Great Falls, Virginia. The title of the song says it all – the road is not smooth or straight – best course of action is to “detour”. How I wish that was a possibility for the current housing market – but it seems we are going to have to work our way through, no possibility of going around it!
All price brackets had similar number of sales in the first 3 quarters of 2011 compared to 2010. The best news again occurred in the $1.25 to $2 million bracket with 126 homes changing hands, up from 119 in the first half of 2010. As you may recall, the recovery of this price range began in the first half of 2011 and fortunately carried over into third quarter. The total number of sales for McLean and Great Falls was 684, which is down from 708 in the same time period in 2010, a drop of 3.5%.
My prediction for the last quarter of 2011 is much the same as the first three quarters of the year: recovery of the housing market will continue, but in a bumpy fashion. Dr. Stephen Fuller, Director of George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis is the foremost authority on the economy for the Washington DC metro area. Dr. Fuller spoke at the Economic Summit for the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors on September 16, 2010 where he anticipated a rocky recovery. Fuller stated: “Recession is over when you stop declining,” he said, “not when you get back to where you were.” He predicted that it will be 2012 before we will be in an accelerating economy. Thankfully 2012 is just around the corner!
Karen is originally from Columbia, Missouri and graduated from Stephens College with a BA in Business Administration and Mathematics. She began her real estate career 26 years ago developing residential lots for the Trammell Crow Co. in Dallas, Texas. Soon after, Karen married Andy Briscoe and completed a Masters degree from Southern Methodist University. Andy’s career with public policy relocated the family to McLean in 1994. In the Washington metro area Karen worked in commercial real estate with The Staubach Company before becoming a residential real estate agent with the Sue Huckaby team. Karen is an Associate Broker in Virginia and represents sellers and buyers primarily in the McLean, Great Falls, Falls Church, Arlington, Vienna, and Alexandria areas. The Briscoe family is active at church in McLean where they became friends with Sue and Jerry Huckaby. Karen is on the Board of Lift Me Up! (the handicap horseback riding program in Great Falls) where their daughter Callie previously boarded her horse. Andy is active in Boy Scouts as their son, Drew, is an Eagle Scout. Drew is a senior at Southern Methodist University and Callie is a senior at McLean High School.
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