Highlighted red line is Georgia Avenue between downtown Silver Spring and Wheaton.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Bubblicious Alert: in Silver Spring, MD
It is totally bubblicious along, Georgia Ave (97) between downtown Silver Spring and Wheaton. On almost every street corner there are either one, two or more signs pointing to housing units for sale or for rent. Many of them are hosting open houses today. It is really a site to behold.
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With so many homes on the market, I hope prices will fall further and keep falling. Reductions we see are really nothing considering how much prices have inflated in the recent years. Thank you, David, for your hard work. It is good to know what's going on in my local area.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually looking to buy in the close-in Silver Spring area (though not until I see where prices are headed), and it's quite amusing to me how Wheaton is now called Silver Spring by all of the real estate agents (even on homesdatabase.com, there is no such thing as Wheaton).
ReplyDeleteI think realtors call all kinds of areas "Silver Spring" because there are a lot of issues in the area, and "Silver Spring" conjures up images of renovated downtown, rather than some of the issues.
ReplyDeleteWheaton, despite the recent ongoing renovations, is still dicey and not as nice as it was 20 years ago (when it was a middle class, but not upper middle class, neighborhood). Langley Park is still a disaster. Both these areas routinely get referred to as "Silver Spring" to cover up where they really are.
My wife and I looked at some houses in that area a few years ago. There are some nice (but very small) older houses. But they were selling for 150-250K only in 2002. I think that is probably closer to the true value of those homes. These often have no garage and are very small and old. In addition, traffic around there is a nightmare at all hours. Finally, crime is creeping up, and the county leadership seems to think that raising prices will solve everything, because god forbid you actually get tough on crime.
ReplyDeleteI rent in the area, and there are a lot of positives right now. But long-term, I am less enthusiastic. I hope everything turns out all right, but I am not willing to bet 400K that it will.
I just sold a rental I owned along this very same corridor, just outside the beltway. I bought in 2000 for 140k, and just sold for 320k. I sold because I think there is a bubble, and it's gotta be close to deflating, because 320k is CRAZY. Hopefully my gut instinct is right.
ReplyDeleteWhy does the mere fact that houses are for sale indicate the area is "bubblicious"? If they don't sell for 90 days, or if they keep dropping their asking price, maybe you've got a worthwhile observation, but this posting as it stands tells us little or nothing.
ReplyDelete"Why does the mere fact that houses are for sale indicate the area is "bubblicious"? "
ReplyDeleteIn the post it reads "On almost every street corner there are either one, two or more signs pointing to housing units for sale or for rent. Many of them are hosting open houses today"
This certainly was NOT the case in the summer.
Until Maryland loses the reputation as the place to go do everything that is illegal in Virginia, this will happen to all of its border cities :-(
ReplyDeleteI rent in the Silver Spring areas. There are a couple of major condo buildings near completion within walking distance to the Silver Spring Metro.
ReplyDeleteI am sure that developers will have a starting price at $250K or above for tiny one-bedroom units.
Guess what? There's no fucking way you will find hoards of yuppies looking to find property in Silver Spring. I think the developers will be in real shock when they see the high vacancy rates in their condos.
I live in this area, south of the Beltway, and came across your blog.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of differences in neighborhoods around Silver Spring. Where I live, it's really nice, well-kept older homes, many with extensive renovations--they are not "small and old." It's also a much more middle-class area than Bethesda or Chevy Chase--which to my mind is good. Crime is no worse than it's ever been. I mean, this is right outside DC--it's not a small town in the Midwest (where they may have their own crime issues anyway, such as meth use.)
I have lived in my house for 10 years and I'm not looking to sell anytime soon. I guess I am just sort of astonished by the nasty comments about the area. You really have to get off the main highways and look around before you pass judgment.