Hard Money Loans From Private Lenders

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Washington DC Home Sales Summary for 2015
A Washington Post article from February 2016 provides a comprehensive breakdown of 2015 home sale activity in Washington DC and suburbs by Zip code. The strong showing – home sales exceeded 50,000 – was the highest since 2006. The confluence of low supply, high demand and low interest rates provided builders/developers, who usually finance deals with hard money loans from private lenders, with an ideal environment for fix-and-flip projects.

The 2015 regional median sale price was $410,000, up 1 percent ($4,000) from the previous year and the highest since the $415,000 median price of 2007. Of course, prices and returns varied from one Zip code to the next. Here are summaries of the different areas:

District

Median prices climbed from $499,000 to $523,050, a 4.82 percent increase. Sales rose from 7,949 to 8,216, a 3 percent jump. Housing demand was strong but some areas are quite expensive, such as the Chevy Chase/Friendship Heights area (Zip code 20015) with a median sale price of $949,000, the third highest in the region. High prices favor financed over ...
... cash flip deals, which means increased business for banks and private lenders. Hard money loans are favored by many flippers due to their quick availability and competitive prices.

The hottest area was Congress Heights (20032), which had the biggest leap in prices to $215,000, a 26.1 percent gain. A total of 36.5 percent of sales were cash deals, which means banks and private lenders financed 63.5 percent of sales. Rehabbers armed with hard money loans can flip affordable houses on the east side of the Potomac, where there are some gorgeous properties within easy commuting distances, and expect a nice return and a quick sale. The top five DC Zip codes had sales-to-list-price-percentages ranging from 100.9 percent to 99.8 percent, indicating sellers are pricing fairly and demand is good.

Synopsis of Suburban Counties

• Montgomery: The median price remained at $400,000, but sales increased by 11 percent. Bethesda (20816) and Silver Spring (20906) had strong performances.

• Prince George’s: Had the region’s strongest price increases, with a 6.33 percent boost in median price to $235,000 and sales up 15 percent to 9,369. The area remains affordable.

• Howard: Prices were up 1.75 percent to a median of $396,750, and sales increased 19 percent to 4,136, of which 778 were co-ops/condos.
• Frederick: Sales popped by 19 percent to 3,841 homes, while the median price hit $285,000, up just 1.32 percent. Inventory is relatively weak.

• Southern Maryland: Charles County has an increase in median price, whereas Anne Arundel, Calvert and St. Mary’s suffered declines. Lothian (20711) was a strong standout.

• Arlington: The median price rose 4.21 percent to $560,000 and sales climbed 4 percent to 2,881. Houses priced $500K to $900K were the hottest sellers.

• Alexandria: Sales were up 9 percent to 2,475 and the median price rose to $499,900, a 4.15 percent gain. Del Ray, Stonegate and Rosemont had brisk sales.

• Fairfax: Prices rose 3.23 percent to $478,844, and sales climbed 10 percent to 14,850. Although wealthy, the county is also attracting first-time buyers on modest budgets.

• Prince William: Never fully recovering from the 2009 bottom, median price was up 1.66 percent to $324,00 as sales rose 10 percent to 6,884. First-time buyers are attracted to reasonable prices.

• Loudoun: Sales jumped 12 percent to 6,485, but the median price was unchanged at $432,000. Many HOA communities attract home buyers.
All signs point to this upcoming year to be an excellent time to invest in real estate development, especially in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.