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Remember that housing bubble mess? We'll we're not quite out of the deep end yet, emphasized by the Washington Business Journal today. They're reporting that local home prices are continuing to fall in most major cities compared to last year, with D.C.'s declining 18.4 percent. The reality: "We see no evidence that a recovery in home prices has begun," David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P, said in a statement. The Wall Street Journal blog notes that the nationwide decline has at least slowed ... except in D.C. and California, with the nation's capital posting the biggest monthly decline in the 25 market survey. The writer at DC Home and Condo Prices notes that sales volume in the area is up, however.
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"with D.C.'s declining 18.4 percent."
The actual story says: "Washington area prices in March were down 18.4 percent"
That's not quite the same thing, as it likely includes the whole MSA.
Hey, why not lump Dupont in with, say, Prince William County? They've got so much in common with one another.
BTW: if you are reading this and are completely freaked out about the "crash" I'd be happy to take your Mt. Pleasant rowhouse off your hands for whatever you paid for it in 1998, PLUS CLOSING COSTS!!! I know, I know, I'm a mensch, already.
So housing prices coming down from their already ridiculously overinflated highs is a bad thing? Affordable housing's a good thing, right? You WANT bluecollar schmucks to be able to live and work downtown, right? I wager the reason why sales are up is because prices are beginning to approach sane levels.
I am w/ Monkeyerotica: Wrong angle on this story, DCist. Here's what you should have said (based strictly on the facts as presented):
Good news for DC home buyers
Remember that housing price hyperinflation? Prices are getting closer to back to normal, data in the Washington Business Journal show today. The Journal is reporting that local home prices are continuing to fall in most major cities compared to last year, with D.C.'s declining 18.4 percent.
The reality: "We see no evidence that a recovery in home prices has begun," David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P, said in a statement -- which is welcome news for anyone looking to buy a house in DC.
The Wall Street Journal blog notes that the nationwide decline has slowed, except in D.C. and California, with the nation's capital posting the biggest monthly decline in the 25 market survey. The writer at DC Home and Condo Prices notes that sales volume in the area is up, however, showing that the market may finally be returning to a saner level, closer to what it was before the housing boom put buying out of the hands of so many and contributed to countless foreclosures.
I can't believe that two years into this housing crisis people still don't understand the difference between a metropolitan area (which is what the article refers to) and a city.
Personally, I could care less what a crappy McMansion in Prince William county, 35 miles from downtown DC, is now worth. Probably not much, but it was never worth much to me.
DC housing prices are down about 10% since this time last year according to actual data on DC and just DC: see http://www.dchousingprices.com/. Considering the economy was generally destroyed late last summer, that's not bad at all, and probably compares very favorably against most other areas.
The distribution of single-family home versus condo sales has changed a lot. There are many more foreclosures than a year, which are generally houses in poor condition at the low end of the market, so there will be a disproportionate number of sales there. Any analysis of home sales in DC compared to itself, compared to another city, needs to consider these factors.
At the end of the day, DC is probably doing very well compared to most other urban markets, but that is not something that you can tell by looking at a sound-bite about prices in an MSA, of which DC is a fairly unique one.
Can you really not believe it, though? Nuance is not something the media does well..
HEIGHTENED DRAMA (pronounced drah-mah) is something they have mastered.
Even within DC, generalities are kind of useless. For Year-on-Year sales numbers for April, median resale price for 20016 was up 25.39%, while adjacent 20008 was down 10.48% (data from MRIS 5/6/09 reports), and you get even more variation based on neighborhood, price range, size, etc.
More generally: interest rates are low enough, prices have dropped enough, and gov't jobs are secure enough that there's a lot of demand among buyers right now, and so for a portion of the available inventory, it's actually almost a seller's market; well-priced homes that show well are the ones that are in the most demand, and thus are actually getting multiple offers and bidding wars.
Our co-op just appraised for exactly the same amount it had in 2005 when we bought it. Yes, 2007 prices were higher, but there's no pre-bubble pricing in desirable parts of DC!
A neighbor just sold his house (Identical to mine) for what I paid in 2007. Gave me a bit of ease.
Yeah seriously: I can see the wolves circling in on that foreclosed wasteland formerly referred to as Logan Circle. I just refinanced my 2BR/1BA + roof deck on 10th and N and bought seventeen shotguns.
That number is a bit misleading. The index showed a year over year drop of 19.3% from Jan 08 to Jan 09, a 19.2% from Feb 2008 to Feb 2009 and an 18.4% drop from Mar 08 to Mar 09. That would indicate a slowing rate of decline. Nationally, the Feb rate was 18.6% and climbed to 18.7% in March. That would indicate a worsening situation nationally versus a slightly improving situation in DC.
And yet the house across the street from my building just sold for $1.55M after one open house and one week on the market...
I wish I had sold my cardboard village before the rains came and washed them all away.
I just had my Columbia Heights digs appraised for a refi, and the value has fallen by about 10% from when I bought it in 2007. I do admit that could be as much due to the gangstas playing "National Rifle Association" as to the economy.
could be as much due to the gangstas playing "National Rifle Association" as to the economy.
Because they weren't there back in '07?
Obviously they were there. I have no empirical evidence for this, but my perception is things have gotten worse in the last year.
Much more importantly than my own perception, I think the perception of Columbia Heights as gangland has affected the type of people who at the height of the boom might have ignored this and swallowed their Realtor's lines about "urban living" and all the rest. And that affects market prices.
Nonetheless, I'm sure the pro-gun types out there are heartened to see our city's kids so readily embracing the gun lobby's ideals of rugged self-reliance.
Columbia Heights (and Parkview, Pleasant Plains, etc) is definitely less violent then 2, 5, 10 years ago. Not even close.
In our extended neighborhood we get together and torch the foreclosed homes. It helps keep property values up by decreasing the supply.
The deal is this: case schiller calls it "washington, dc" but it is actually an MSA that goes nearly to PA, and includes parts of WVA, and all of Loudon County. Louden real estate prices are DOWN about 40% year over year. But don't get all excited that you can buy a place in downtown DC for 20% off. Most DC condos and houses priced under $1.5 million are still selling for between a measly 1-3% off their highs, or actually UP 1-3% over last year's prices. In attractive areas - near metro for example - Dupont Circle, Cleveland and Woodley, Gtown - buyers are STILL competing against one another and sometimes paying OVER the offer price. Sadly, this is yet another inaccurate headline...