Within the last two weeks, two homes in Belle Haven have racked up $4 million in sales volume, kicking off the high spring market season in the neighborhood. 

One sale was a listing by Jill DiPasquale of Long and Foster at $872,500 on Windsor Road.  It had been on the market since mid-March.  The highest sale went to Janet Price of McEnearney Associates, with a sale at $3.1 million. 

Price offered an optimistic view of the market, saying she had never seen so many cash transactions in her 14-year career.  Citing a list of high-end sales throughout the Belle Haven and Old Town Historic Area, Price added, Investors are taking advantage of market opportunities, with interest rates still low, and inventories high.  Sellers are beginning to benefit from realistic price strategies, as well. One seller has bought and sold three homes in Belle Haven over the last four years, according to Price.

The market statistics say allot about this genteel, hillside community and equally important, its location.  Still an easy commute to downtown, D.C., and just beyond Old Towns historic sector gates, Belle Haven offers amenities such as the Belle Haven Country Club and an active community of residents who have consistently demanded high standards for preserving the neighborhoods character.

There have been two other recent sales, one in February and one in March in the Belle Haven neighborhood.  A sale on Windsor Road, listed by Christine Ricketts of McEnearney settled the end of March, and had been listed at $2.9 million.  Another property on Belle Haven Road, listed at $1.2 million by Jeanne Myde Warner, settled within two weeks of contract ratification.

There are eleven remaining active listings in Belle Haven, ranging in price from $630,000 to $2.. Seven of these are above the $1 million mark.  Given the recent high-end sales in the neighborhood, sellers who have priced to the current market should be able to see increasing market activity.  As all realtors know, there is something about azaleas in bloom that seems to entice would-be buyers off the fence. 

If the trend holds, Belle Haven may provide that guiding light at the end of the tunnel that tells us, well priced homes in desirable neighborhoods, well situated and spruced up for the market will be the leaders in sales, as the 2008 market continues to define itself. The clear resolution of uncertainties about the financial sector may wait, but buyers seem to have made peace with the fact that it is unlikely to be anytime soon.