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Home Prices in Md. Push Upward and Outward
This house on Castlefield Street in Ellicott City, listed for $2.2 million, is typical of recent high-end sales in Howard.
(By Tom Allen -- The Washington Post)
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But some pockets of affordability remain in Montgomery County, according to Janice Fife, an agent with Weichert Realtors in Silver Spring.
"There are still some very hot neighborhoods under $500,000. Some are well maintained, but a lot are in need of work," she said.
Fife suggests looking in Wheaton, Glenmont and Aspen Hill north of Silver Spring, and Lincoln Park in Rockville. All have modest older homes and easy access to Metro's Red Line.
"These neighborhoods used to be considered less desirable, but convenience is the deciding factor. You might be near semi-industrial areas," she said.
Maryland's ever-skyrocketing housing prices were mirrored throughout the region last year. As prices rose during 2005, fewer areas could be deemed "affordable." In the Washington area, stretching from Southern Maryland northwest to Loudoun County and northeast to Frederick County, the median price of a detached house or townhouse in 2005 was $419,000, up from $330,000 just a year before.
Northern Virginia had the region's priciest houses, with a median of $491,447 in 2005, an increase of 26 percent from 2004. The median price in the District was $412,000, but the city had the highest appreciation rate in the area, 28.8 percent.
Although condos remain considerably less expensive than houses, they appreciated more steeply, to gain 33.8 percent regionally in 2005, for a median price of $281,000.
The District, where there has been a boom in luxury buildings, led the region in condo prices, with a median price of $365,750. The median sales price for condos in Northern Virginia was $308,000; in suburban Maryland, it was $210,000.
If those prices leave you with sticker shock, Luis Lama, an agent with Long & Foster in Falls Church, suggests you ratchet down your expectations a little: Don't look for a house near public transportation. Think about a fixer-upper. Consider whether you can live without a basement or a garage. "If you want to live by transit, forget it: You don't find anything under $500,000," he said.
Betty Holmes, managing broker with the Vienna-Oakton office of Weichert Realtors, echoed that thought: "There has always been a parallel between distance and price," she said.
Fife said that in some cases, a fixer-upper might be the best bet to get the most for your money.
"There are a lot of people paying for their houses in sweat equity," she said. "Ironically, they go in, fix the house up, making the neighborhood all the more unaffordable."
