Washington DC is a diverse district with over 690,000 residents and many more that commute in or have part time residency for work. There is approximately 11,300 people per square mile. That means that means a diverse amount of real estate from rental units, to condos, and all kinds of homes. What is the real estate market like in Washington DC?
The market in Washington DC was one of the first to start recovering after the 2007 and 2009 recessions. The presence of the federal government likely contributed to that. As did federal spending in the area. But tourism also played a major role. Those are two of the biggest sources of income for the DC area, tourism and federal money.
A lot of the residents of the Washington DC area are related to either the local government or the federal government. Washington DC being home to the White House and other governmental buildings. You can also find think tanks, contractors, and other businesses that work with the government.
House sales in the District of Columbia have been relatively balanced between buyer and seller in the last several years. Several small areas and out lying areas have noticed slight problems, but that is part of the fluctuation that comes with being in real estate.
According to Zillow the median home price for Washington DC is $513,400. This is up from the 2014 value of just over $440,000. Zillow predicts that the median price will continue to rise over the next year by about 6.2%. That is a big rise in price. One that could influence more people to sell. For those that are interested the median price per square foot is about $538 according to Trulia.
Only about 1.8% of Washington DC homeowners are delinquent on their mortgages and between October and December of 2018, the market is on a bit of a down turn. But that is predicted to only be a temporary fluctuation. Much like the stock market, real estate fluctuates based on many factors, not limited to, but including: the time of year, the financial market, politics, and much more.
Zillow lists NoMa as the lowest costing area of Washington DC to buy in while Bloomingdales is amongst the most expensive. Western and Northwestern Washington DC have seen the highest median price listings in the DC area.
Long and Foster has broken down the housing market in Washington DC in October of 2018 and it reveals that 772 units were sold and the average time spent on the market was around 41 days. Both statistics are down. The number of units sold being down is a negative on the market but less days on the market means that houses are selling faster. Something to consider is that those 772 units were out of 1,889 units available during the month of October.
Rent in Washington DC is at an average of just over $2,600 a month. Higher than the surrounding areas by about $500. This is an indication that rentals in the DC core are in demand.
Many homeowners and potential homeowners alike want to know the basic crime statistics for the Washington DC area. It helps to make an informed decision. Trulia reports that the number of thefts in Washington DC in the last year were just under 30,000. Robberies were just over 3,300 incidents and assault was under 2,800 reports. Overall Washington DC has a very active police force and the presence of multiple federal law enforcement agencies works to deter potential criminals.
Lastly, we wanted to provide you with some demographics that we found interesting about the Washington DC area:
46% of Residents Are Homeowners (Trulia)
$65,530 is the Median Household Income (Trulia)
48% of Residents Are College Educated (Trulia)
39% of Residents Commute Via Public Transportation (Trulia)
10% of Residents Identify as LGBTQ (Gallup)
1.39% is the Expected Growth Rate for Washington DC (World Population Review)
The Washington DC market is a rather unique one. While current reports are rather even between buyer and seller, the area is one that is quick to recover when there is a recession or imbalance. Statistics in the article and other information has been gathered from a wide variety of resources and is designed to be helpful when trying to buy or sell in the Washington DC area.