Said Driscoll, "Washington has turned a corner; its prices are catching up with San Francisco and Boston."
So what makes buyers covet one neighborhood over another? In part, it's the real estate mantra "location, location, location."
Residences in Penn Quarter, such as these on Seventh Street NW between E and F, are gaining value partly from the new convention center nearby.
(Mark Finkenstaedt For The Washington Post)
|
|
"The hottest places are close in, where people can walk to the Metro, to shopping," Driscoll said. "People are sick to death of sitting in traffic. That keeps prices high in downtown D.C. and places like Bethesda and Clarendon."
Because of high single-family costs, condos have undergone a surge in popularity, she said. But that popularity is also driving up costs for condos and co-ops nearly as quickly as for single-family homes.
For example, the median price for a Montgomery County condo or co-op jumped from $103,000 in 1999 to $222,000 in 2004. Arlington condos and co-ops rose even faster, from $131,125 to $317,000. And they gained in popularity. While 1,302 were sold in 1999, 2,006 changed hands in 2004. Fairfax County saw a similar rise in the number of units and prices, moving from 2,406 sold in 1999 for a median price of $90,000 to 5,186 sold for a median of $234,000 in 2004.
In addition to price and location, a more intangible sense of community has drawn buyers to particular neighborhoods, from Cleveland Park in the District to the Chevy Chase neighborhood of Martin's Additions in Maryland, to the Lyon Park neighborhood in Arlington.
"Everybody wants to feel part of a community," said Driscoll. "Everyone's family is far-flung. People want places that have that little-town feeling. It's a throwback."
But even if a neighborhood isn't quaintly old, with 1930s bungalows and turreted Queen Annes, buyers can still get that picket-fence feeling from some of the newer planned communities, such as King Farm in Rockville or Cameron Station in Alexandria.
No matter what the neighborhood, Long & Foster's Moore said, brisk sales are still the rule, unless a house is way overpriced.
"What I see out there is if a house comes on the market, it's going very quickly, many times in three to five days. It's often gone within a week. Usually after two weeks, if there are no nibbles, it's time for a price reduction."
