Stacy and I are stopped quite often and brought into enjoyable conversations about the Northern Virginia Real Estate market. Regularly these conversations will involve a reference to an article in the Washington Post, a smaller local paper, or a story on a local news show. Something along the lines of, "I heard on the Washington Post that Real Estate in the D.C. area is expected to drop an estimated 12% this month."
While such predictions are usually not unfounded, we are quick to point out that statements like this are an average .... of everything in the population being made reference to. In a prediction that Northern Virginia home prices will drop 12% this month, we need to make sure we concluded that this number includes a the sume and average of lot of other numbers. The case could be that townhomes on Eastern Loudoun County are down 18%, yet condominiums in Arlington County are up 3%, and luxury homes in Potomas are down 10%.
Real estate is a local business. You may find if you drill down into one of these reports or predictions, that the elements of a real estate market value sum percentage can vary within the same zip code or subdivision.
When we are asked - "How is the market?" The answer out of my mouth is usually - in a balanced market like here and now, it depends on what local piece of the market you are talking about.
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