Ibi Sofillas

If you like fresh, locally-grown food (and who doesn't!), you should check out the Clarksburg farmers market.

It's open every Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and is located in Clarksburg Town Center at the junction of Public House Road and Ebenezer Chapel Road.

The market, which started this June, is a way for local farmers to connect with consumers in our area, and will be open each Sunday until November.

For more details you can log onto their website: www.clarksburgfarmersmarket.org

Work on a portion of Skylark Road in Aurora Hills is scheduled to begin in a few weeks, and it will mean re-routing of traffic in the neighborhood.

The work will take place on Skylark Road from Piedmont Road and will continue to the entrance of the Ovid Hazen Wells recreation fields near Cherry Branch Road. Artery Development of Bethesda will begin work once the utilities companies have moved their power lines and utility poles to permit construction, and a section of the road will be closed for about six weeks.

Artery has pledged to post detour signs in advance so that motorists will be forewarned of the new traffic pattern.

I've been keeping a very close eye on the "Days on the Market" statistics for Clarksburg, MD, because this number provides a quick readout on the pace of real estate activity in a community.

For May 2008 the average days on the market in Clarksburg was 178 versus 195 in May of 2007. This is not a huge difference, but it does indicate that homes are selling a bit faster now. The big question is whether this is the beginning of a trend, or merely a one-time statistical quirk. Curious minds want to know!

The developer of Clarksburg Town Center has submitted a new site plan to the Montgomery County Planning Board.

The developer, Newland Communities, envisions upgrades to the retail core, community landscaping, and the Resident's Club. These revisions arose because of the need to correct plan violations uncovered in 2005. Now the developer has until September to iron out the details with county planners and the Clarksburg Town Center Advisory Committee.

The Town Center retail center is intended to occupy 265,000 square feet and is to include a grocery store and up to 42 other business tenants.

The new plan will cost the developer and five builders approximately $15 million.

April's real estate numbers have been released and there's some intriguing news.

The median price of homes sold in Clarksburg in April was $480,000, which is a very modest 0.52 percent lower than April of 2007. Moreover, eleven homes sold in April versus only eight last year at this time.

So that's encouraging news to home sellers who've been barraged by months of bleak reports.

Having said that, the oversupply of homes on the market as compared to the lowered demand for them still favors the financially-well-qualified buyer in negotiating a sale. I'll be interested to see whether the May statistics point to a continuation of this trend.