Darci Marchese, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Home prices. How low can they go? Unfortunately, they continue to decline in our area.
Across the D.C. Metropolitan region, home prices fell more than 4 percent in November compared to November 2010.
John Mclain, senior fellow at George Mason University, says prices fell in some normally solid locations like Arlington and Loudoun County. Prices dipped slightly however.
In all of Northern Virginia, home prices were completely flat.
D.C. saw average home prices dropping by nearly 9 percent.
Suburban Maryland saw prices decline 7 percent with Prince George’s County pulling prices down. Prices there fell by 7.4 percent.
McClain says the average price of a home selling in November in Prince George’s County was $160,000. That’s down from $185,000 last November.
In Montgomery County, home prices fell by more than 5 percent.
McClain says homes in the higher price ranges are not selling well right now. Homes on the lower end are selling better due to first time homebuyers continuing to fuel this market.
Increasing rent may also be pushing people into homes along with very low interest rates.
McClain says he’s also seeing a lot more short sales selling. While it doesn’t reflect well on the market right now, he says it’s a good indicator that banks are finally acting and moving these distressed properties off the market.
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