The incredible sellers market that has dominated over many past years has evaporated.

Well… maybe not according to some realtors one can talk to and some in the press.

I’m on the bearish side here—we are in the early stages of a long term cycle.  We will have stable prices and terms soon, probably after some further sagging, but it will be years before we have appreciation again.

So don’t hold off a sale you want to accomplish.  Sell now for the best price, or be prepared to wait for several years.

Incidentally, be careful with the stats in the press—notice that almost always they compare the current month with the same month last year.  That’s an interesting comparison, but so is Nov. 2006 vs. Oct 2006.  And, even more interesting, prices at the peak (June/July 2005) vs. prices in the two most recent months. (All are relevant, but I particularly like to look at where we are vs. prices at the peak. As a large generalization, we are down 5%-15% in northern Virginia, depending on the area.

Call for an idea of what is going on in your subdivision.

So don’t wait for better prices unless you want to wait a while.

If you are selling to move out of the area or downsize, the same advice is right—sell now for the best price.

If you are selling to buy another bigger or better located house in this area (that is you are both a seller and a buyer) it gets complicated.  Call Kit.

By the way. We do not see a long term crash in this area.

The local economy is one of the strongest in the nation.  (Speaking of the stats, don’t take the national housing market trend as applying in this area—we are far stronger for sellers.)