Craig Richardson's (crichnr) Blog

The total number of townhouses that sold in the 1st Quarter of 2010 in McLean climbed back to 12 after dropping to 8 and 7 in the 1st Quarters of 2009 and 2008, respectively.  In another sign that the market has rebounded, the Median DOMP dropped to 78 in the 1st Quarter 2010, the fewest days of ...

As many parts of the county face the most difficult economic times since the Great Depression, the Metropolitan, D.C. area economy continues to perform very well.  One indicator is the retail market. According to the Washington Business Journal, despite a slight rise in the vacancy rate over a ye...

Last year's 1st Quarter single family home sales in McLean saw the fewest homes sold (53) compared to any of the 1st Quarters in the past 5 years, and the longest Median DOMP (134).  Fast forward to the 1st Quarter 2010 and the single family home sales were one of the strongest since 2006.  I rem...

A survey conducted by the Washington Post and released yesterday found that 60% say that traffic in the area has gone from "has grown worse in the past five years." There is no question traffic is more of an issue now, although some of it will get better in the long run, particularly near Tysons ...

The Median Days on the Market for McLean Condos was 3 days in March!   Multiple contracts within hours of a listing seemed to be the norm in this market sector.  I recently ratified a condo for a client which had 4 cash offers within a day of going on the market, so I know it's extremely competit...

Because McLean doesn't have them many townhouse developments, extrapolating meaningful trends from monthly sales can be difficult.  In March 2010, 4 townhouses traded hands, which was one more than a year ago last month but less than in March 2006, March 2007, and March 2008. The Median List and ...

Last month, 21 single family homes sold in McLean, up 4 from March 2009.  More notable is that the median list price in March 2010 was nearly $200,000 higher than last year at that time, and the median sold price was up more than $250,000.  The March 2010 numbers tracked closely to the March 2008...

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) affirmed this week that the price of grown and development is more traffic snarls before the construction projects are completed.  According to D.C.'s local Fox affiliate, while the project of adding High Occupancy toll lanes to the Beltway near Ty...

A big change I've noticed in my lifetime is a transition away from the importance of saving money to a sense of instant gratification - buy it now on credit and pay for it later.  As children of the Great Depression, my parents tried to instill in us the old fashion notion of living within your m...

The ongoing discussion over Fairfax County's 40-year proposal for the development of Tysons Corner continues to generate a lot debate, particularly over density concerns.  According to the McLean Connection, the issue of density dominated the debate at the March 11 public meeting.  "Most Tysons C...