HARDING REPORT – JUNE 2005
*** News from Jefferson County WV Property Market ***
Each month the Harding Report includes the latest news and information from the Jefferson County, West Virginia property market. This is a free service compiled by Thomas Harding, a licensed real estate agent with Greg Didden Associates in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
For additional local information or any other property enquiry contact:
Thomas Harding
www.tharding.com
304 671 7292 (cell-phone)
304 876 6400 (office)
CONTENTS
- The Here and Now
- Jefferson and Berkley County Market News
- Ethics and Planning
- Community Wells
- Weapons in Bidding War
- Upcoming Events
HARDING REPORT –JUNE 2005
1. The Here and Now
I am still looking for a house for my elementary school teacher. Perhaps though she has found a solution, she is thinking of buying a house with a friend of hers, and thereby sharing the costs of the mortgage. This of course is a smart way of dealing with the problem for many buyers in Jefferson County. By making properties smaller, in the form of condos, apartments or in this case by sharing space, many buyers will be able to afford housing once again.
Many homes today are over 3,000 square feet, some even more. Most of these are for people coming from the Greater Washington DC area. This is driving the average home price higher and higher (see the stats in the next section) and making it harder and harder for local residents to buy properties. Jefferson County Governments would be well advised to encourage the construction of alternatives to such large properties in the form of condos, townhouses and apartments.
2. Jefferson County Market News – The score for May 2005 is 9 out of 10
Okay, I have run out of hyperboles. From now on I’m just going to rate the degree of ‘WOW’ factor to explain the changes over the previous year, with 10 being the highest, and 1 being the lowest. This month I give 9 out of ten, here’s why….
Take a look at the percentage increase in total sold dollar volume. Incredibly, this has MORE THAN DOUBLED for the same month the previous year. Now remember please, last year was the BIGGEST sales year on record. So what does this make this year? Wow. I give this month a 9. Why a 9 and not a 10? Because, this is the first month and I reserve the room for a truly unexpected and spectacular month in the years ahead.
Now look at the average sold price. This shows a 43% increase compared to the same period last year. Also interesting, it looks like Realtors are closely tracking the average sales price as a percentage of list price which is almost exactly the same as the year before. Perhaps most interesting, for the first time, the average sold price in Jefferson County is over $300,000. Again, and perhaps equally as staggering, the average sold price has gone up $100,00 in 12 months! Yes that is a WOW of 9 out 10.
2005
2004
% Change
Total Sold Dollar Volume:
$ 32,610,827
$ 15,319,505
112.87 %
Average Sold Price:
$ 322,879
$ 225,287
43.32 %
Median Sold Price:
$ 298,500
$ 208,250
43.34 %
Total Units Sold:
101
68
48.53 %
Average Days on Market:
64
55
16.36 %
Average List Price for Solds:
$ 331,724
$ 230,027
44.21 %
Avg Sale Price as a percentage of Avg List Price:
97.33 %
97.94 %
Now let’s take a look at Berkley County. Again we see a massive increase in sales volume, largely due to the number of units sold, which as almost doubled. Also of interest is an incredible 99% sales price as percent of list price and also a considerable drop of 18% in the average days on market from 59 to 48 days.
2005
2004
% Change
Total Sold Dollar Volume:
$ 47,452,582
$ 23,860,858
98.87 %
Average Sold Price:
$ 204,537
$ 168,034
21.72 %
Median Sold Price:
$ 198,700
$ 149,993
32.47 %
Total Units Sold:
232
142
63.38 %
Average Days on Market:
48
59
-18.64 %
Average List Price for Solds:
$ 206,560
$ 170,500
21.15 %
Avg Sale Price as a percentage of Avg List Price:
99.02 %
98.55 %
(mris.com)
3. Ethics issue for Planning Commissioners
An opinion issued last month by the state Ethics Commission was found to apply to a situation involving the owner of a Jefferson County construction company recently appointed to the County Planning Commission. Peter Kubic was appointed to a two year term on the Planning Commission. He has not however attended any Planning Commission meetings since it was brought to his attention that his presence on the commission might be in conflict with his interests as owner of Kubic Construction Inc.
Paul Raco, county’s director of Planning, Zoning and Engineering said Kubic often represents clients applying for building permits. Based on two past cases in which legal opinions were requested regarding business owners whose staff appeared regularly before county government boards to represent the interest of their business, Raco said he advised County Administrator Leslie Smith to consider getting a legal opinion on whether Kubic’s presence on the Planning Commission was appropriate.
Jefferson County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Brandon Sims said she was asked to look at the situation. She concluded that it would be a violation of the Ethics Act for the owner of a construction business such as Kubics to continue his business and sit on the Planning Commission.
Raco said he was informed of Sim’s opinion shortly before a meeting with Kubic for his orientation. When he told Kubic about the development, Kubic voluntarily agreed not to attend the planning commission meetings until the matter was resolved.
Ethics Commissioner Executive Director Lew Brewer said only one opinion that could be applied to Kubics situation was rendered at the commission’s Thursday meeting. The opinion says that if a business owner accepted an appointment to the planning commission, he or she would be precluded from appearing before the commission regarding his business activities, either in person, or indirectly through employees, company officers or other agents. The limitation continues to apply for six months after the member’s departure from the planning commission in accordance with the Ethics Act.
It will be interesting to note whether this development will be applied to other jurisdictions, including the municipalities of Harpers Ferry, Ranson, Charles Town and Shepherdstown.
[Martinsburg Journal 5/11/5]
4. Community Wells Restrictions Put on Hold
Homebuilder’s objections halted a rule change this month that would limit the density of some housing developments in Berkley County. The Berkley County Planning Commission voted to table approving restrictions on the county’s subdivision regulations.
Under the proposed changes, developers who intend to supply community wells or sewage systems called package plants, for subdivisions would be prevented from building a single family residence on lots as small as 7,500 square feet. Community wells would also be disallowed for lots as small as 40,000 square feet under the proposal.
Commissioner Howard Strauss said the change was designed to eliminate the incentive to construct community wells and package plants in rural agricultural zones. Commissioners said that in the past community wells had been built without county involvement, causing the Public Service District to inherit problems with aging and failing systems. In particular, Paul Fisher, Executive Director of Berkley County Public Service Water District, referred to a particularly bad situation in Glenwood Forest subdivision, whereby both the courts and the state forced the water district to take over the development’s failed water system. “Our customers are still paying for it” said Paul Fisher.
[Martinsburg Journal 6/8/5]
5. Weapons in the Bidding War
The Washington DC real estate market is hot, red hot. Real estate agents often find that their full-price offers are often rejected in favor of other offers. The Washington Post looked into the strategies that Realtors are using to help their clients buy a house in this multiple offer situations, here are some of the things they found:
- Escalation clauses, offers ratchet up in $500 or more increments if another offer comes at the same price
- Non contingent offers, where home inspection, radon, appraisals and financial contingencies are all waived
- Personal Letters. Buyers write ‘gushy’ letters to sellers explaining why they are the perfect people to live in the house
- Gifts. The Post found buyers were offering an extraordinary range of gifts to sellers including use of vacation ocean front houses for a week, cruises in the Bahamas, bottles of wine, tickets to Redskins games,
- Non refundable deposits. Buyers write checks on the property that will not be returned even if property purchase is not complete.
- Personal photos. Buyers send pictures of themselves, their children and their pets. Some Realtors worry that this may enable discrimination which is illegal.
Most Realtors say however that Cash remains King. If you offer more than the other buyers, and you can prove you are financially reliable, you are most likely to win the race to the property.
[Washington Post June 11, 2005]
6 Upcoming Events
§ July 1-3, CCS Motorcycles, Summit Point Raceway. For information call (304) 725-6512
§ July 8-July 31, Contemporary American Theater Festival, Shepherdstown For more information call 800-999-CATF or visit www.catf.org
§ July 16 (10a-8p) Shepherdstown Street Fest, celebrating 15 years of the Contemporary American Theatre Festival. For more information email info@ShepherdstownStreetFest.org or call Lisa Younis at (304) 283-1696. Website: http://www.shepherdstownstreetfest.org/
§ August 19-21, 13th Annual African American Cultural & Heritage Festival, Sponsored by Jefferson County NAACP. For information call (304) 725-9610.
§ August 21-27, 53rd Annual Jefferson County Fair, Jefferson County Fairgrounds. For more information call (304) 724-1411.
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