3
LIFE OF PUBLIC SERVANT SALUTED
4
SHAKESPEARE COMES TO LIFE IN McLEAN PRODUCTION
32
MADISON WINS BASEBALL TOURNEY
6 24 26 39
Commentary Schools Public-Safety Crossword Admission Open House | April 28 & May 10 | 9:00 am
Find our spring lawn & garden guide inside!
WWW.G R E E N H E D G E S .ORG | VI E N N A , VA
Sun Gazette VOLUME 38
GREAT FALLS McLEAN OAKTON TYSONS VIENNA
NO. 33
APRIL 20-26, 2017
Affordability Hampering First-Time Buyers
As Spring Real-Estate Market Heats Up, Pickings Are Slim in More Modest Price Ranges HEADED TO THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!
After achieving success at the state level, a seven-person interschool troupe from Great Falls and Vienna will advance to the World Finals of Odyssey of the Mind, to be held in May. The team includes Mahi Patel, Preethika Chinnareddyvari, Sammy Dallas, Sam Garver, Lily Coussens, Neha Sinha and Shibli Nomani; they represent George C. Marshall High School, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology and Kilmer Middle School. See more in the “Schools & Military” section on Page 24 inside this week’s paper.
*Any job over $3000. Good only when presented at time of free inspection. Not to be combined with any other offer.
PAID
$500 Off!*
Free Inspection & Estimate! Call 888-579-7454 Today!
Stella & Jesse Waltz, P.E., Owners
PRSRT STD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE
of free inspection. Not to be
ROTTED WOOD combinedWET BASEMENT with any other offer. MUSTY SMELLS BOUNCY FLOORS STICKING WINDOWS MOLD & FUNGUS CRACKED DRYWALL BUGS & RODENTS
Owned & Operated by Professional Engineers!
PERMITNO.1371
FOUNDATION REPAIR•CRAWL SPACE *Any ENCAPSULATION job over $3000. Good BASEMENT WATERPROOFING only when presented at time
FOUNDATION REPAIR CRAWL SPACE ENCAPSULATION BASEMENT WATERPROOFING
LAUREL, MD
WETBASEMENT? $500 off!* SETTLING FOUNDATION CRACKED BRICKS UNEVEN FLOORS NASTY CRAWL SPACE
Continued on Page 34
www.insidenova.com l Like us on Facebook: sungazettenews l Follow us on Twitter: @sungazettenews @sungazettespts Local Postal Customer
ONLINE
As was the case a decade ago, the region’s healthy real-estate market is leaving prospective first-time purchasers in the lurch. “Entry-level buyers have very little to choose from in the price range below $400,000,” said Bob Adamson, chairman of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, who called the lack of inventory (at nearly all price points) the potential Achilles heel of the local market. That caution came as the Northern Virginia homes market got off to a solid spring start, with March home sales up by more than 15 percent from RELATED: a year before and Spring started early average sales prices in the Fairfax homes also on the rise. market, with both A total of 1,779 sales and prices seeing properties changed upticks in March. Find hands across North- full coverage inside ern Virginia last on Page 8. month, according to figures reported by RealEstate Business Intelligence, an arm of the local multiplelisting service. That’s up from 1,542 sales in March 2016. (Figures represent properties going to closing in Arlington and Fairfax counties and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church.) The average sales price of all properties that sold in the month was $565,964, up 5.3 percent from a year ago, with the average price in the single-family segment rising 6.2 percent to $771,220. The townhouse and condominium sectors saw more modest year-over-year improvement, rising to $407,886 and $319,462, respectively. “Serious buyers who have been on the