Braemar Property Value Report: March-April 2023 (Heritage Series)
As we pass into the latter half of May, the time has come to look back to the months of March and April in another Braemar Property Value Report. This particular report focuses on sales of homes in the Heritage Series in our neighborhood. Heritage Series homes are the mid-sized detached homes built by Brookfield Homes. Their floor plans include the Exeter, Yardley, Waverly and Zachery. And since the community of Braemar started in Braemar North Gate with Coscan, before being acquired by Brookfield Homes, the floor plans that make up Braemar North Gate are also included in this report.
There was only one Braemar Heritage home that sold in all of Braemar during the months of March and April. That is one more home sale that some other home types saw in those two months. Our neighborhood, and overall market, has been experiencing a major inventory shortage. Details of that one sale are listed below.
A quick glance shows three components of a healthy seller’s market. This home sold above list price, gave no seller subsidy (closing cost help to buyer) and was under contract in three months. Of course, when this sale is combined with the seventeen sales dating back to May 2022 of Heritage homes in Braemar, the six and twelve month data points tracked in this report show the effect that changing buyer behavior had on the last six months of homes sales.
Starting with the sold price column, for the third report in a row, we see that both six month sold prices are below their corresponding twelve month sold prices. The last time we saw six month values higher than twelve month values was in the September-October 2022 report. However, with the buyer behavior back to decisive and quick action, it is likely we will see this gap between the six month sold prices close in both the average and median data sets in future reports.
Seller subsidy has been climbing in these values for months…all but the twelve month median value that is, which has remained at zero. In this report, both six month values are lower than they were last report. Again, if buyer behavior keeps up and doesn’t lag going into the summer, this is another area where we likely to see even more improvement in the next report.
Days on market shows a trend that I was not expecting. Both six month marketing times are still longer than their respective twelve month marketing times. In particular, the six month median time seems to have jumped the highest since last report. The most recent sale doesn’t reflect that, and the market suggests we are past longer marketing times for now.
If you placed your Braemar Heritage home on the market, priced to current demand, you could expect it to be under contract in about a week. You could also minimize any seller subsidy requests and improve the odds of extremely seller favored terms in your offer(s) by creating buyer enthusiasm with your listing. Pricing right, being properly prepared and having your listing professionally marketed are the essentials to getting buyers to act quckly and decisively for fear of missing out on your home. Those are the homes where buyers compete and sellers get the best terms. Relying soley on market conditions for the best outcome is never a guarantee.
The next Braemar Property Value Report will be out in July. Until then, if you have been wondering what your home may be worth in our current market, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Helping my Braemar seller clients reach the top of the market is something that makes me very proud. It starts with a simple conversation. Since 2005, No One Knows Braemar Better!
Chris Ann Cleland
Associate Broker, Licensed in VA
Long & Foster Real Estate
703-402-0037, ChrisAnn@LNF.com
www.SellingBraemar.com
www.UncompromisingValues.com
www.ChrisAnnCleland.com
Selling Braemar 