BiggerPockets

Take A Look At This Market

I like the prospects for my local market and here is why everyone should take a look at Prince William County, Virginia. The market is great but you'll need to be brave. I say this market is great because you can pick up a home for the same price it sold for back in 2002 even though incomes have gone up significantly. According to the Prince William Department of Economic Development the counties median household income is $87,243. The median county income in the year 2000 was $67,466 and in 2004 it was $75,302 according to the Census Bureau. That is a 15% increase since 2004 while home values have gone down almost 40% in the last year in Woodbridge Virginia according to the Metropolitan Regional Information System.

I am active in real estate in 3 different states and consistently research many more areas. I don't know of a place with a better price to income ratio. In most places you're lucky to have prices at 3 times median income. Here in Prince William County it's about 2.3 times. That's just average, savvy buyers can get much better deals than average.

Job growth is still strong in the DC area even though it is only half what it was in 2005. These are well paying stable jobs being created in the most recession resistant region of the country. And, the key here is job growth. On top of the area trends we are all expecting a nice population boost with the thousands of jobs being sent to Ft Belvior in the next couple of years from the last BRAC. However, that rampant growth of 2000-2005 created our greatest lagging problem, builder over production. I think the greatest drag on this market is builder inventory, but builders are dumping houses at amazing prices.

I'm confident that Prince William County is going to start attracting a great deal of attention as one of the most affordable places to live, with great schools and tolerable commuting options. The Trends in VA Housing Market Report stated that sales activity in Prince William County was up 72% in the 2nd quarter of 2008. However, Don't watch "Flip this House," for ideas on this market. Investors here should be looking for great deals and be prepared to hold them for at least a year. But, you'll have a good shot at that since the rental market is stable to strong here.

Note* Anybody can pick and choose the statistics they want to make their point and that is certainly what I did here. However, I am assuming that the reader is already fully aware of all the bad news out there and I am merely pointing out facts that I am using to base my opinion. Please, please do your own research before you invest in any market.

Comments

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  Christina Schottenbauer — almost 3 years ago

  I would have to second Prince William being one of the best markets in the nation to buy properties. I was buying houses in northern VA during the big boom and know what the top of the market looked like,and there is a huge oppurtunity for investors right now. Housing markets bounce back based on employment,and we are talking the nations capital the is lot of goverment and executive jobs then you also have several military bases that are always bringing in new people.This is one of the safer places to buy in my opinion,plus there is great oppertunity for buy and hold,high residual income.