Anita Tauber of Long & Foster is not terribly worried about selling her high-end homes.
“The higher end market is still very strong,” Tauber said.
Tauber is not alone in her assessment of the market, despite a slowing economy.
“I think it’s doing great,” said Bob Moorman, managing broker of WC&AN Miller.
However, not all real estate professionals agree. “I think it’s going to be far more difficult to sell these things,” said Rick Campbell, managing broker of Weichert Realty. Although he did note, “I think the local market is one of the strongest around.”
Closer-in properties in Potomac will continue to sell well, Campbell says, but the further west a seller is, the more difficult it will be to sell. “If it’s a really nice property, close in, it will still go pretty quickly, but, once you get west of Piney Meetinghouse Road, it really starts to soften up,” Campbell said.
A weaker economy means people have less money to spend on houses. That lack of money, Campbell thinks, will lead to and end to the hyperactive real estate market in recent years.
“We’ll probably get back to normalcy,” he said.
Pricing properties properly is considered to be the most important factor in selling quickly in the current market.
“Some sellers have an inflated idea of their value,” Tauber said. If a house sits on the market for a long time, “It’s a reflection of inappropriate advice about its value.”
The war and tax season may be distracting people from going home shopping, Moorman said. However, “houses that are priced right and in great condition sell right away,” Moorman said.
Tauber is upbeat about onging sales.