DC home prices post healthy gain

D.C. home prices post healthy gain

Washington Business Journal - by Jeff Clabaugh

Existing-home sales plunged nationwide in July, but prices were higher than a year ago with price gains in Washington among the biggest in the nation.

The National Association of Realtors reports July existing-home sales dropped 27.2 percent from June and were down 25.5 percent from a year earlier. Existing-home sales last month fell to the lowest level in more than a decade.

Washington-area sales also plunged, falling 18.4 percent from the previous month. Existing-home sales in Baltimore were down 17.9 percent.

The Realtors group expects sales to be soft for several more months.

"Consumers rationally jumped into the market before the deadline for the homebuyer tax credit expired," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "However, given the rock-bottom mortgage interest rates and historically high housing affordability conditions, the pace of a sales recovery could pick up quickly, provided the economy consistently adds jobs."

Nationwide, existing-home prices rose 0.7 percent from year-ago levels.

In Washington, the year-over-year price gain was 4 percent, to an average sales price of $351,100. Washington's gain in prices was the fourth strongest among the nation's 20 largest markets, topped only by Boston, New York and San Diego

Read more: D.C. home prices post healthy gain - Washington Business Journal

Check out the latest Washington, DC Market Minute report for May 2010 from Long and Foster.

D.C. gained more new residents between July 2008 and July 2009 than it did in any other one-year period since World War II.

WOW! That is a surprising fact! As important and interesting is that DC was also recently named to the Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine's list of the "10 Best Cities for the Next Decade," based on the region's both actual and potential growth....it landed at #3 behind Austin, Texas and Seattle, Washington.....

Read more: Kiplinger's: D.C. a "best city for next decade" - Washington Business Journal

Home prices in the Washington area increased by the most in the country during the 12 months ending in March

Thursday, May 20, 2010, 6:19am EDT

The Washington Business Journal Morning Call

Home prices in the Washington area increased by the most in the country during the 12 months ending in March, the Washington Examiner reported.

Prices for single-family homes increased 6.4 percent -- the biggest increase out of 10 major metropolitan areas, according to CoreLogic, a real estate data company.

Read more: D.C.-area home prices increase most in U.S. over past year - Washington Business Journal

D.C.-area home sales jump in April 2010

Monday, May 10, 2010, 1:23pm EDT | Modified: Monday, May 10, 2010, 4:39pm
D.C.-area home sales jump in April
Washington Business Journal - by Jeff Clabaugh
Read more: D.C.-area home sales jump in April - Washington Business Journal:


Residential sales in the mid-Atlantic region in April were up 25 percent from a year earlier, with the average number of days on the market down 26 percent, according to Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc.
The average sales price in the mid-Atlantic was up 4 percent from a year ago, MRIS says.
Prince George?s County had the highest year-over-year increase in sales, up 85.6 percent. Falls Church posted the biggest drop in days on the market, down more than 73 percent from 71 days a year ago to just 19 days last month.

In the District, total dollar volume sold was up 50 percent, the number of units sold was up 58 percent and average days on the market fell 30 percent, from 92 days to 64 days.
In Baltimore, total sales were up 24 percent, and average sales prices rose 10 percent from year-ago levels.


Read more: D.C.-area home sales jump in April - Washington Business Journal:

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2010/05/10/daily9.html?ana=e_du_pap

DC increases employment (1/2009-1/2010)!!!

Did You Know: State Employment Trends
March 26, 2010

By: Arun Barman, Research Economist


* Alaska, DC, and North Dakota were the only three states that saw year-over-year increases in employment between January 2009 and January 2010 according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
* Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, and California had the largest percentage yearly decreases in January 2010.

For more information on state employment trends, see State Employment Trends (PPT: 826KB).

http://www.realtor.org/research/economists_outlook/didyouknow/dyk032610ab

D.C. area's population is still blooming!!!- Wasington Post 3/24/2010

Great news for those of us living and working here! D.C. has weathered the economic storm the past couple of years better than any where else in the country.....D.C. area's population is still blooming : Data shows brisk growth 163,000 gain in 2 years; people...

Washington area population rises faster than other regions

By Carol Morello
Wednesday, March 24, 2010

New census statistics released Tuesday show that the Washington region's population has continued to grow at a brisk pace since the onset of the economic downturn, another indicator that the area has weathered the recession better than other parts of the country. In the two years preceding July 1, 2009, the region added 163,000 people, bringing the total to almost 5.5 million residents -- a growth rate of about 3 percent that is faster than that of any other Eastern Seaboard city. Metropolitan New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore all grew by less than 1 percent during the same period, and the Boston area's population increased by about 2 percent.

FOR the entire article, click on the following link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/23/AR2010032301808.html?referrer=emailarticlepg