Washington DC Luxury Property Sales Report

 

Trying to draw conclusions about the state of the market from any "micro-market" in the Washington DC area is an impossible task. That’s one of the defining characteristic of a micro-market – that one type of home in a specific zip code or subdivision, or other kind of niche (luxury homes, 3000 sq. ft. + condos...) may be selling extremely well while a comparable neighborhood is stagnant. But it’s always fun to try to find similarities in previous periods to try to reach some larger consensus about the market. The Washington DC and Bethesda area luxury real estate market is even more difficult than previous “zip code micro-market reports” because normally those buying luxury properties aren’t as effected by economic variables (jobs, interest rates, gas prices, declining dollar). Not to say that a recession doesn’t effect everyone to some degree but for the most part, luxury property sales aren’t as linear. This said, the January luxury data shows many of the same trends visible throughout the series of January market reports. Volume is down and days on market is up. But the one staple that gives many close-in DC real estate experts comfort is the “average sales price as a % of average list price”. Properties are still selling for good prices in these coveted areas. Sellers just need to be prepared to hang on a little longer. I feel it wouldn’t be fair to close the loop on January without a Washington DC luxury condo report so keep an eye out!