WHO REALLY KNOWS WHERE THE REAL ESTATE MARKET IS HEADED?

Ok...I read the newspaper articles every week and I am amazed at the amount of attention that is given to where the real estate market is heading. Many writers are focusing on the future or lack there of for the real estate market now. Many folks are freaking at what they are reading and unless you are in the market day in and day out, be cautious what you read and hear. Would you rather speak to a forecaster of the stock market or someone who is in the trenches every day as a broker dealing with the clients and their money? I know my answer! I am here to tell you that the real estate market in the Washington Metropolitan area is always going to be a structurally strong market. Why would I think this you might ask? Great question! Well let me tell you it is simple in my opinion, jobs, jobs and I don't know if I mentioned jobs. Between the Gaithersburg, Maryland Corridor High Tech Industry, the Dulles Corridor High Tech Industry, the Government jobs in DC, MD, and VA, just to mention a few major components to real estate ownership. People are always going to buy and people are always going to sell, primarily due to the transient nature of the area and did I mention the political flavor on our real estate market.

If you look at a home value statistical scale or layout over the past ten to fifteen years, the curve always flattens out rather than dropping down a deep valley.  You get an increase or decrease over a five to seven year period and then a market adjustment for the same period of time, give or take.  When an increase does take place like the one between 1999 and 2006 rarely do we see an adjustment that hits at or below where it was five to seven years ago.What does that tell us?  Simplify you may say, OK! Between 1999 and 2006 we had one of the largest increases in history over home values, as well as some of the lowest interest rates in history. If I may speak in generalities for a moment, as a market today in the metropolitan area of Washington, DC, MD and VA we have decreased in values to about where we were in the early 2003 pricing. So whatever your home was worth in the beginning of 2003 is probably where you are today as far as home value!!!! Yes there are some exceptions to this, but very few! No Pulp, Just the Juice!