LoudounScene.com - your source for what's going on in the Loudoun County real estate scene

Loudoun County Tax Rate Increasing for 2010

 

Loudoun County's real estate property tax rate will increase in 2010 to meet the current and future needs of the county's school system and other programs. There is a large budget shortfall due to an average drop of 8 percent in residential values and 2 percent in commercial values. In reality, it's due to poor planning on the part of Loudoun County, but that's a discussion for another time...

According to the Loudoun County school system and county officials, the county needs to raise the tax rate to at least $1.26, if not $1.35 per $100 of assessed value. The current rate is $1.14, which is a 19% increase from $0.94 just two years ago.

Should the tax rate be raised to $1.26, that would be a 34 percent increase in just three years. If the tax rate were raised to $1.35, that would be a 44 percent increase.

On a side note...in this area, only the Town of Leesburg and Manassas Park have higher tax rates than Loudoun County ($1.32 and $1.27). Should the increase to $1.35 occur, Loudoun would have the highest tax rate in the area. Remember when Loudoun was attractive to home buyers due to having a lower tax rate than Fairfax? So much for those days...

The Loudoun County school system posted an article on their web site about this issue. Here's an excerpt:

Loudoun County Deputy Chief Financial Officer Ben Mays detailed the budget outlook that was presented by County Administrator Kirby Bowers to the Board of Supervisors and the School Board earlier in the week. Figures contained in this analysis include:

• At the current real estate tax rate of $1.14 per $100 of assessed value, the county government would face a revenue shortfall of $27 million and the school system a shortfall of $70 million in Fiscal Year 2010. That shortfall would come from the funding level of this year's budgets.
• A tax rate of $1.26 is necessary to get the county government and school system back to the same funding level as this year.
• A tax rate of $1.35 would be needed to accommodate the anticipated increase in budget items, including school enrollment growth. (This rate would not fund raises or new programs, but would cover things such as increased insurance and retirement costs on current county employees.)

Will Loudoun County home owners pay the higher tax rate? According to some, they will because they want a higher level of service and are willing to pay for that. But it may affect the decision of future home buyers who may view Loudoun as less attractive than before due to higher taxes and a higher monthly house payment.

Whatever the Loudoun County tax rate increase for 2010 will be, there is sure to be one and it will go into effect July 1, 2009.

"How's the Real Estate Market?", "How's Business?"

"How's the real estate market?" and "How's business?" are two questions I get asked almost on a daily basis. Whether it's a client, family member, friend, acquaintance or someone I just met, everyone wants to know what someone who's on the "street" every day is seeing and hearing.

"How's the real estate market?"

The market is improving for sellers and getting tougher for buyers. Here's why...

• There are less homes on the market today than since the end of the boom market in 2005. Less inventory means less competition for sellers. This is good for sellers and bad for buyers.
• Short-sales are becoming more and more popular which is good for traditional sellers and banks with REO listings because most buyers stay away from short-sales (with good reason) meaning less homes for buyers to actually choose from. This goes back to my first point.
• Banks are starting to "freeze" foreclosures meaning less new bank-owned properties will be coming on the market in the near to mid-term future. This goes back to my first point as well.
• Interest rates are still near 40 year lows and have dropped some over the last few weeks. This is great for buyers.

"How's business?" 

• The year started off slow and steady and remained that way through late spring
• The summer was great with buyers coming out in packs to pick up great deals at low interest rates. Many buyers felt comfortable that prices had come down significantly and felt it was time to make a move after waiting it out for months, if not years.
• The summer rush ended near the beginning of October and buyer demand dropped off through Election Day. I think things slowed down because people were busy worrying about the financial crisis, the federal bail-out, the stock markets tanking and the uncertainty of one of the biggest elections in U.S. history. 
• Since Election Day, buyers have come back out and it's been a really busy few weeks with little time for rest. I see this continuing through the end of the month and possibly into December.

If you have specific questions not answered here, email or call me anytime.

No One Is Unaffected By The Housing and Financial Crisis

If you can't see the video, click here.

Thanks Dan!

South Riding Real Estate Market Statistics - October 2008

Here are the October 2008 statistics for the South Riding, Virginia real estate market. The statistics cover supply (new listings) and demand (solds). 

   

The number of new listings in October '08 was higher than in September '08 and slightly lower than in October '07. This is not a good sign in the short-term and we'll have to see if this just temporary or turns into a trend.

The number of properties that sold (went under contract) in October '08 was lower than the previous month and the same as the previous year. This is not a good sign either and goes against what the rest of Loudoun County is doing, which is showing signs of improvement.

South Riding has one of the softest markets in Eastern Loudoun County making it tough for sellers, but good for buyers by giving them more room to negotiate.

Leesburg Real Estate Market Statistics - October 2008

Here are the October 2008 statistics for the Leesburg, Virginia real estate market. The statistics cover supply (new listings) and demand (solds). The statistics are broken down by the two Leesburg zip codes, 20175 and 20175.

Leesburg - 20175

The 20175 zip code includes areas such as Greenway Farm, Kincaid Forest, Woodlea Manor and Stratford...

   

The number of new listings in October '08 was slightly higher than in September '08, but slightly lower than in October '07. On a good-to-bad scale, it's about neutral.

The number of properties that sold (went under contract) in October '08 was slightly lower than the previous month, but was higher than the previous year. This is about neutral overall as well.

Leesburg - 20176

The 20176 zip code includes areas such as Potomac Station, Lansdowne, River Creek, Exeter and Sycamore Hill...

 

The number of new listings in October '08 was about the same as in September '08, but significantly lower than in October '07.

The number of properties that sold (went under contract) in October '08 was exactly the same as the previous month, but much higher than the previous year.

With new listings and buyer demand remaining the same as in the previous month, it's about neutral on the bad-to-good scale, but there has been a great improvement year-over-year.

Overall, the Leesburg real estate market is not showing as much of a September-to-October improvement as the Ashburn or Sterling real estate markets, it's continuing to show great year-over-year improvement. 

Sterling Real Estate Market Statistics - October 2008

Here are the October 2008 statistics for the Sterling, Virginia real estate market. The statistics cover supply (new listings) and demand (solds). I broke it down by the three Sterling zip codes, 20164, 20165 and 20166.

Sterling 20164

The 20164 zip code includes areas such as Sterling Park and Sugarland Run...

   

The number of new listings in October '08 was down about 20 percent from September '08 and down over 35 percent year-over-year. This is a great sign for the foreclosure-beaten-and-battered Sterling Park and Sugarland Run areas.

The number of properties that sold (went under contract) in October '08 was lower than the previous month, but was well over double that of the previous year. Though the year-over-year numbers are great, I hope that the down-tick in October buyer demand is only temporary.

Sterling 20165

The 20165 zip code includes areas such as Countryside, Potomac Lakes, Great Falls Chase and Lowes Island...

 

The number of new listings in October '08 was about 10 percent lower than September '08 and much lower than in October '07. 

The number of properties that sold (went under contract) in October '08 was greater than the previous month as well as the previous year. These are exactly the type of statistics you want to see if you're looking for a real estate market to stabilize and rebound.

Sterling 20166

The 20166 zip code includes areas such as Dominion Station, Collonade at Dulles, Parkside at Dulles and Peace Plantation...

The number of new listings was higher in October '08 than in September '08, but lower than in October '07. 

The number of properties that sold (went under contract) in October '08 was greater than the previous month as well as the previous year.

Though 20166 saw an increase in new listings, the increase in buyer demand more than made up for it. Overall, 20166 is showing continued improvement.

As a whole, the Sterling real estate market is showing a continued decrease in inventory and increasing buyer demand, both of which are necessary to stabilize a real estate market.

Ashburn Real Estate Market Statistics - October 2008

Here are the October 2008 statistics for the Ashburn, Virginia real estate market. The statistics cover supply (new listings) and demand (solds). To make it easier, I broke it down by the two Ashburn zip codes, 20147 and 20148.

Ashburn - 20147

The 20147 zip code includes areas such as Ashburn Farm, Ashburn Village, Belmont Country Club, Belmont Greene and Belmont Ridge...

   

The number of new listings in October '08 was slightly lower than in September '08 and significantly lower than in October '07. This shows that the trend of a diminishing inventory in Ashburn continues.

The number of properties that sold (went under contract) in October '08 was lower than the previous month, but was significantly higher than the previous year.

Ashburn - 20148

The 20148 zip code includes areas such as Loudoun Parkway Center, Broadlands and Brambleton...

 

The number of new listings in October '08 was slightly lower than in September '08 and significantly lower than in October '07. This also goes along with the trend of a diminishing inventory throughout Ashburn.

The number of properties that sold (went under contract) in October '08 was only half that of the previous month and lower than the previous year. This is not a good sign for the 20148 real estate market and I hope to see buyer demand increase this month and moving forward.

Overall, the Ashburn market is showing mixed signals. The 20147 zip code shows continuing of improvement while the 20148 zip code's low buyer demand is not a good sign.

Loudoun Real Estate Statistics - October 2008

Here are the Loudoun County real estate market statistics for October 2008. The statistics cover supply (new listings) and demand (solds). 

    

The number of new listings in October '08 was down slightly from September '08 and down 23 percent year-over-year. This is a great sign for the overall Loudoun County real estate market.

The number of properties that sold (went under contract) in October '08 was lower than the previous month, but was 33 percent higher than that of the previous year. Though the year-over-year numbers are great, I hope that the down-tick in October buyer demand is only temporary (more on that to come soon).

NOTE: I'll be posting hyper-local real estate market statistics broken down by town and zip code tomorrow (Saturday) so stop back by to check those out as well.

Loudoun's Packin Heat!

Want to compare average housing prices within Loudoun County or between different counties throughout Virginia? Then check out Trulia.com's Heat Map for Virginia. You can compare average prices of various zip codes within the county or compare Loudoun County as a whole to other counties in Virginia such Prince William County, Stafford County, etc. This is a great resource for those moving to, from or within Virginia.

Here's the heat map for Loudoun County (click to enlarge):

One thing to note is that Trulia.com's Heat Maps feature is good for comparing the general difference in average sales prices of one area to another, but it's not necessarily an accurate source of current average sales prices. Why? Because some of the data is a bit outdated (and not by just a few months).

Related Articles

Moving To Loudoun County, Virginia? How Far Will Your Salary Go?

Real Estate, Lending News Stories Worth Reading

If you've been out of the loop lately, here are some of the top real estate, mortgage and financial headlines worth reading:

U.S Unveils Mortgage Plan

U.S. Mortgage Plan Falls Short

Citi To Modify $20 Billion In Home Loans

JPMorgan Chase Expands Housing Rescue Plan

Foreclosures Spike 25 Percent Year-On-Year

Countrywide Cancelling Short-Sales and Freezing Foreclosures

Foreclosure Freeze "Icing" Loudoun Real Estate Market