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Metro DC Housing Market


tombarnes

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There are indications that the red hot DC housing market is beginning to cool...at least a little bit. From the Washington Post...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...5121700106.html

Prices have been SO inflated lately that this is inevitable.

It seems prices are cooling off elsewhere as well such as here in southern VA. It was so intense at one time that folks would even skip home inspections bc of fear that the unit would sell before the inspection was done. Bidding wars were a common as well. I am glad things are starting to return to normal for all of us and hopefully soon prices may begin to drop to more modest numbers.

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The District's booming housing market has caused a rapid rise in rents, increased the financial squeeze on low- and moderate-income families and put some renters at greater risk of becoming homeless, according to a report by the Urban Institute.

full story

Sounds like a familiar problem. With the increased demand of housing even the elderly and disabled have a threat of being squeezed out of the market.

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It seems prices are cooling off elsewhere as well such as here in southern VA. It was so intense at one time that folks would even skip home inspections bc of fear that the unit would sell before the inspection was done. Bidding wars were a common as well. I am glad things are starting to return to normal for all of us and hopefully soon prices may begin to drop to more modest numbers.

When I brought my towhhouse here in Northern VA (Leesburg) back in Feb 2004 there were 6 bids on the house in the first few hours. I didn't even think about getting a home inspection, because I would have been left out in the cold. Thankfully the sellers went with us and in less than two years our house has appriciated about 70%. It's unreal!

The market has slown a bit, but my Dad (he's a realtor) says that come Feb/March the inventory will be going down and houses will start selling a little faster again. The inventory here in Leesburg has already been going down quite a bit just in the last week or so. We're putting our house on the Market in Feb. and moving to Raleigh, NC.

Some people might have thought I was crazy to put a contract on a house I knew nothing about and didn't even get an inspectionon, but it's been the best investment I could have ever made.

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The article states there are about 51,400 condo units planned or marketed for delivery within the next three years but that number is up from $39k just three months earlier. Those numbers are just insane to me and it surely sounds like some of these units will be on the market for a good while and as the article alluded to, deep discounts will be given just to move them.

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For Builders, Fears of Limits Spur Loudoun Housing Rush

County Works to Overcome Va. Supreme Court Decision Granting Denser Development in Rural Areas

The picturesque crossroads of Unison in western Loudoun County look much like they did 200 years ago: stuccoed farmhouses, rolling horse pastures and narrow, unpaved roads. Carriage aficionados regularly clop along Unison's lanes.

Yet Unison may be a prime example of what some in Loudoun are describing as a modern-day land rush. Just up a rise from a church that housed a Civil War field hospital, on about 90 acres within sight of the village, a developer wants to build 28 houses.

And he will, if his paperwork is processed quickly enough.

article

.. and sprawl marchs on... :(

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  • 3 weeks later...

D.C. stumbles globally but is still tops for real estate investment in U.S.

London has knocked Washington out of the top spot when it comes to being the best city for global real estate investors.

A survey from the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate, which has been ranking the top five U.S. and international cities since 1992, says Washington is the only city to have made the U.S. list every year. In fact, D.C. has been either first or second in all the surveys except for the year 2000.

article

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KSI, county push for more offices, homes on Lee Hwy.

Vienna-based KSI Services is working with Fairfax County to bring more homes and offices to heavily traveled Lee Highway.

The county, on behalf of KSI (www.ksi.com), has proposed a comprehensive plan amendment that would allow 200,000 square feet of office space and nearly 500 residential units to be built at a site on Lee Highway just south of the juncture of Interstate 66 and Route 50. Fairfax County's support for the project reflects the interest of Greater Washington's local governments in finding more space for the thousands of jobs arriving annually.

article

Harris Teeter, condos on tap for firm's Manassas project

Manassas is growing up fast, and Opus East wants to grow with it.

The Bethesda-based developer has proposed a Harris Teeter-anchored retail complex and more than 200 residential units for a vacant parcel on the city's south side.

article

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News From the Upper End of the Market

The Washington Post reports that the upper end of the market is well represented in the Washington area. What I find astounding is that anyone would consider paying 20 m for Herbert Haft's pseudo-mansion. It's an atrocity. Little wonder it's still on the market.

l

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Watergate Hotel is Converting to Condos

It has been rumored for some time that the Watergate Hotel would be closed and converted to condos. The building is being renovated and converted into 96 condominiums. The hotel was well past its prime, in spite of an honorable and distinguished history as a hotel. The building needs work, so this should be a positive development. As a hotel, the location was not ideal. From the Washington Times/Hotel-Online.

$650 k TO $9 m!

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A Novel Approach....

Libraries and other public buildings may soon fall for condo complexes if Linda Cropp and other members of the City Council approve a proposed measure whicjh would encourage condominium and mixed-use development on "underused" sites throughout the District. Libraries, schools, police stations and other such municipal buildings would be incorporated into the new developments. The article mentions the West End and Adams-Morgan as two likely sites for this sort of development. The idea has merit, but is also potentially explosive. As for the Reed Center in Adams-Morgan, demolition would be a blessing. From the Washington Post...

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Area home prices up, sales are down

Another report on the local housing market confirms others. Housing prices are still rising, but there are more houses on the market and sales are slowing down.

The Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors, which represents about 11,000 Realtors in the District and Montgomery County, released its first report of the year showing condominium listings in the District are up 130 percent from January 2005. Single-family home listing are up more than 61 percent.

article

Quite a few markets in the US are cooling from what they were and actually it is a good thing.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Mayor Urges Linking Income, Rent Control

Williams Touts 'Means Testing' as Equitable

Mayor Anthony A. Williams yesterday called for changes to the city's rent control law that would for the first time consider the income of prospective tenants seeking to lease rent-controlled apartments.

Williams (D) said "means testing'' would ensure that the below-market rate rentals would go to those most in need. The proposal, which needs the D.C. Council's approval, would apply only to new renters and require that tenants' incomes be certified so they pay no more than 30 percent of their income in rent.

Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), the chief author of the rent-control bills and chairman of the committee, said revisions are needed to help preserve affordable housing in the city. He cited a study by the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute estimating that 15,000 units renting for $500 to $1,000 a month went off the market between 2000 and 2004.

article

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Traffic and Density Worries Drive Debate on MetroWest

Fairfax County's signature growth plan -- the building of thousands of condominiums, townhouses, stores and offices at the Vienna Metro station -- generated more emotional debate last night as planning commissioners weighed what the development will look like.

As many as 60 people had signed up to speak at a public hearing on MetroWest, a project that has consumed Fairfax leaders, planners and civic activists for nearly three years.

The 2,250 homes Pulte Home Corp. would build just south of the Metro would become one of Fairfax's densest developments and test the county's vision of what officials call transit-oriented development -- the concentration of homes, jobs, shopping and entertainment around train stations. Similar growth is planned for Tysons Corner when Metrorail comes to that area of the county

article

In a related article...

Connolly Promotes Dense Development Near Transit Hubs

Approach Called Key to Easing Congestion

article

What are your thoughts on TODs.. smart planning or a nightmare for the already crowded suburbs?

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TODs are great idea, but they're often poorly executed. This TOD planned for Vienna......yes, it's at a rail station, but the rail station is over I-66. The people that move to the area, I highly doubt are going to use transit and add congestion to the nightmare that is I-66. Some people will use transit, but I don't think all of them are. With a freeway right there, it's all too tempting to use car.

TODs are great, but I don't think Fairfax County is ready for it. Maybe in 10-15 years, but not now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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