Posted on 06/01/2013 7:54:56 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The Washington area's housing market is the strongest in the country, according to a report which showed housing prices rising nationally. That's the good news. The bad news is this has started talk about another housing bubble.
According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, home prices rose by 7.7 percent from March 2012 to March 2013 in the D.C. area. The region's current index value is 189.70, which means a typical home in the area has appreciated by a 89.7 percent rate since January 2000.
As other parts of the country suffered from the recession, (most of) the D.C. metro area has seemingly continued to flourish. A few days ago, The Wall Street Journal explained why the real estate market is doing so well in D.C. "Boomtown":
A number of factors are driving the real-estate renaissance. First is a dramatic lack of housing inventory. There are 72% fewer active listings in the entire D.C. metro area now compared with five years ago. In 2007, there were nearly 20,000 new condos on the market. Today, there are fewer than 3,000 units under construction or being marketed, according to real-estate research company Delta Associates.
Washington's economy—which was never hit as hard during the recession as other major U.S. cities—is flourishing. From 2007 through 2012, the local economy expanded 7.6%, compared with the nation's growth of 5.4%, according to economist Stephen Fuller of George Mason University. Federal procurement spending in the Washington area increased by 182% from 2000 through 2010, which has led to an influx of contractors, lawyers and consultants. Overall, the area saw a population increase of 776,280 between 2000 and 2010.The paper also cited large companies moving into the area and government spending as reasons D.C.'s real estate market is, well, booming.
Of the Journal's "Boomtown" article, Derek Thompson, business editor of The Atlantic, tweeted, "Your quarterly reminder that housing prices in DC are exacerbated by an indefensible height-ceiling law from 1910."
The D.C. Office of Planning and the National Capital Planning Commission recently held the second of four planned public meetings to review the city's height limit, which was established by the Height Act. Recommendations will be submitted to Congress this fall.
Oh, and about that impending housing bubble? The Wall Street Journal's Phil Izzo says don't worry about it.
Massive government hiring - of course
Of course it is. The joint is loaded with commie lib politicians and freeloaders who have stolen OUR money! Geesh. Not rocket science.
Exactly. If I were a Lefty I’d just keep my yap shut about this one.
The stolen wealth of millions.
Good for them...puke
Those same counties were the richest ones in the nations when George Washington was President. In fact, Virginia used to have half the population of the United States.
there is never a depression within the district.
So that the rulers never see the destruction of their ideas.
Obamacare supervisors and lots of other pork.
Wonderful.
</sarcasm>
This is just so wrong.
I live outside DC.
Things are going crazy around here - just like in the bubble days. People are walking into an open house and immediately signing contracts without even looking at the property.
They are also offering 10%-15% more than asking price.
Also, a lot of the buyers are speculators looking to flip or rent the property.
We are headed for another big bang around here when it bursts ...
I live in Maryland and this is true.
The Dems in charge here are giving the developers the OK to wipe out forest after forest for new housing developments and I get multiple spam letters from real estate agents to sell my house.
Who is moving in?? Not whites.. Koreans, Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladesh, and yes blacks....all Obama voters.
Lots of green going to hire them and they are buying houses here at ~ $600K+
Yes, even after the dreaded sequester the government is hiring big time.
OK Thomas Sowell and Ron Paul, when does the market fix this?
I bet the Hunger Games capitol had a strong housing market, too.
However, upper-bracket houses--the very grand houses in the upper seven and low eight figures--are selling within days. We are told that foreign investors are snapping them up.
People getting $30,000 yearly bonuses have to live somewhere, and with cash poking out of their pockets (or... purses), it drives up the market.
This is true. If you took a picture in 1798...the same area was thriving. I think the same would have been true in 1859 (the year before the Civil War).
If you look over the way that the District of Columbia was carved up originally...there was a huge expectation of land speculation, and the guys buying up lots of property...to hold for years and profit off later.
RE: People getting $30,000 yearly bonuses have to live somewhere
Don’t want to boast, but I got that much during the great boom times here in NY. But the reality is, you only get HALF of that. The rest is taken away by Uncle Sam.
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