Homes Staying on the Market Longer

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 19, 2006

Home prices jumped over the past year in Loudoun County, but making a sale is taking longer.

Single-family homes and condominiums sold for a record median price of $509,950 last month, up 17.8 percent from the same period a year ago.

But it took 37 days, on average, for a seller to snag a contract last month, up from 26 days in December 2004, according to Multiple Listing Service data posted on the Dulles Area Association of Realtors ' Web site.

Almost three times as many homes were on the market last month -- 2,553 vs. 909 in December 2004. And fewer homes were being sold in Loudoun: 710 last month compared with 835 a year earlier.

The same trend was apparent in Fauquier County, where the median price (with half of the homes selling for less and half for more) rose 14.6 percent over the same period. The homes also took longer to sell: 48 days last month compared with 42 days in December 2004.

The Name Game

Orbimage Holdings Inc. , a commercial satellite-imagery firm based in Dulles, became a lot bigger last week when it finalized its acquisition of a Colorado-based competitor, Space Imaging Inc .

Orbimage celebrated the $58.5 million transaction by changing its name to GeoEye.

Why the name change?

"We're in the business of providing GeoInformation and GeoIntelligence," the company said on its Web site. "GeoEye is short for that. Visually speaking, our satellites see the world, so GeoEye conveys what we do."

GeoEye operates three satellites that provide images to government and commercial customers -- many in the national security community.

Matthew O'Connell is the company's president and chief executive.

New Wine Board Member

Jennifer McCloud, the owner of Chrysalis Vineyards in Middleburg, is the newest member of the Virginia Wine Board, former governor Mark R. Warner announced last week.

"The quantity and quality of Virginia wines have advanced dramatically over the past 10 years, and it's high time we get the word out and disseminate this fact more broadly," McCloud said in a statement. "And I'm just thrilled to have a part in helping Virginia regain the recognition it deserves as one of the nation's leading wine growing regions."

Warner established the board last year as part of a strategic plan, dubbed Vision 2015, to improve and expand Virginia's wine industry.

"A review of regional wine industries around the world shows that they are successful when members of the industry are working together toward the achievement of a common goal," Warner said at the time. "The goal of this plan is simple: by the year 2015, the Virginia wine industry will double its market share within the Commonwealth, and reach measurable sales on a national level."

McCloud's Chrysalis Vineyards was established in 1998 on the 209-acre Locksley Estate just east of Middleburg.

For more information about Virginia wines, visit http://www.virginiawines.org or call 800-828-4637.

Chamber Strategy Meeting

The Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce will hold a federal contracting strategy session at 8 a.m. today. Chamber officials hope to create a networking group of federal contractors and subcontractors. The meeting will be held at chamber headquarters, 101 Blue Seal Dr., Suite 100, Leesburg.

Have news about Loudoun and Fauquier county business to share? Send an e-mail tobrubaker@washpost.com.