Braemar Piggyback Quarterly: January-March 2023 (1st Quarter)
What a gorgeous spring day! It makes Monday seem all the more happy. Then again, Mondays are my favorite days of the week. There is something wonderful about the start of a new week, particularly after a busy weekend showing properties and attending home inspections.
Today I bring you the latest Braemar Piggyback Quarterly. This report focuses on the two car garage, back-to-back and side-to-side attached townhouses in our neighborhood. The first quarter of the year started a bit slow, but saw the return of the buyer frenzy in February. Let’s dive right in.
During the months of January, February and March, there was one Braemar Piggyback townhouse that sold. It listed for $445,000, but sold for $435,000. Details of this sale are listed below.
Maybe you are wondering, if the buyer frenzy returned in February, why did this Piggyback townhouse in Braemar take twelve days to sell and get $10,000 less than list price? Well, this listing hit the market on January 19th. Buyers were still slower to act at that time. And the house itself was fairly basic with carpeting throughout, basic kitchen counters and no updates to the bathrooms.
Taking this Piggyback townhouse sale from the first quarter and combining it with the sales from the second, third and fourth quarters of 2022, the six and twelve month data points tracked in this report are updated. Let’s take a look.
Starting with the sold price column, it is not great news to see both the six month average and six month median sold prices dipping twenty thousand or more below their respective twelve month values. This is the second report where we have witnessed this decline. There is no question that the sales that happened in the last six months represent that time of slower to act, more cautious buyers. It is my hope that the second quarter report will show slightly less of a dip comparing six month values to the twelves. The market is really fantastic right now for any Braemar Piggyback townhouse owner looking to sell.
There is great news in this report and it is contained in the seller subsidy column. Seller subsidy is closing cost help that buyers negotiate from sellers. Seeing zero down the entire column is unexpected. Buyers have been pinched with high prices and higher mortgage interest rates. This is a result of the very low inventory that buyers have to choose from. They may have been slow to act, but there was little for them to pick from, putting them in a spot where they needed to please the seller to have their offers chosen.
Days on market does reflect the delay in buyer actions we saw in the latter half of 2022 and the first month of 2023. Both six month marketing times are much higher than their corresponding twelve month values. Watching the inventory in Braemar and the surrounding area, it seems this is not the case at the moment. Buyers are acting quickly and decisively right now. They have most certainly grown accustomed to the higher mortgage interest rates and are ready to make deals.
If you placed your Braemar Piggyback townhouse on the market, priced to current conditions, you could expect it to be under contract in a week or two. If you were properly priced, well prepared and professionally marketed, not only could you avoid seller subsidy requests, you could end up in a multiple offer situation. Buyer enthusiasm about your listing is what gets sellers the top of the market.
The next Braemar Piggyback Quarterly will be out in July. Between now and then, if you are considering taking advantage of our seller favored market, please don’t hesitate to reach out and find out what your home is worth. It is my pleasure to put my considerable experience and expertise in our neighborhood to work for my Braemar sellers to ensure they get every penny the market will bear. It starts with a 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 