For Home Sellers, January Brought a Chill

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 16, 2006

January wasn't a particularly good month to sell a home in Loudoun County, according to new real estate data.

The average single-family home and condominium sold in January had languished on the Loudoun market for 63 days.

That's the worst "days on market" statistic since January 2000, when it took 64 days, on average, to sell a Loudoun home, according to data from Metropolitan Region Information Systems Inc .

Just a year ago, homes were being snapped up in 31 days, on average.

For Loudoun home buyers, there's good news: Prices have dropped.

The 377 homes that were sold in the county last month had a median price of $468,322. That's a 10-month low.

In December, the price hit $509,950, a record for Loudoun.

For homeowners, the January sales figures still point to a healthy market, at least from a historical standpoint.

Loudoun home prices last month jumped 11.5 percent from January 2005 and 147 percent from January 2000, when the median price of a single-family home or condo was -- ah, remember the good old days? -- $189,750.

Sellers, though, need to be more patient: 55 of the 377 homes sold last month were on the market for more than six months.

The Loudoun numbers are in line with data from other parts of the Washington region, where sellers are simply not getting the multiple offers they received just a year ago.

International Boost

The news this week that a record number of passengers -- 27 million -- passed through Dulles International Airport in 2005 reflected the traffic generated by low-fare carrier Independence Air .

Look for a lower passenger count in 2006 because money-losing Independence shut down last month. Independence once handled as many as 600 flights a day in and out of Dulles.

But Dulles's passenger totals should be boosted by an increasing number of international nonstop flights that will allow Northern Virginians to spend less time changing planes in other airports.

In December, for example, United Airlines began nonstop flights from Dulles to three destinations in the Caribbean -- Montego Bay in Jamaica, St. Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles and Punta Cuna in the Dominican Republic -- and one in the Atlantic -- Nassau in the Bahamas.

Gone are the days when a plane change in Miami was needed to reach those palmy places.

Getting to South Africa is a lot easier, too. South African Airways has launched a one-stop flight from Dulles to Johannesburg, eliminating a plane change in Europe.

This and That

The Loudoun County Rural Economic Development Council recently elected its officers for 2006. Kate Zurschmeide was reelected chairman, and Bill Nelson was elected vice chairman. The 19-member council promotes the county's agricultural, horticultural and equine industries.

The Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce has named Sterling-based JK Moving & Storage its 2006 member of the year. JK got national attention last month when President Bush visited the company to deliver a speech on small-business growth.

The nonprofit group Loudoun Volunteer Financial Council needs volunteers to provide financial education to residents. For more information, call Leslie Estrella of the Loudoun Extension Office at 703-771-5419.

Calendar

May 11: the Loudoun Senior Interest Network's ninth annual Senior Expo at the Community Church, 19790 Ashburn Rd., Ashburn, from 3 to 6:30 p.m. Last year's event attracted 100 vendors, who pitched their products and services to more than 800 seniors. For more information, call Debra Bressler at 703-777-0505.

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