The Washington DC real estate market continues to be one of the strongest in the nation. It was a busy weekend out there at open houses in DC. While I was out showing buyers homes it was sometimes challenging to get them through the doors! I believe the warmer than usual weather as well as high demand due to very low interest rates is playing a big role in the high activity level. In my opinion the warm weather has created a earlier then ever spring boom in the Washington DC real estate market. The spring market looks like it will be a continuation of the current Washington DC real estate market with perhaps a little more inventory and a lot more demand. According to MRIS the Washington DC real estate market inventory level in January was down 27.59% from January 2011. The big question remains on the foreclosure front. Will the foreclosures hit the market and if so, when will they hit the market? A few weeks ago the banks settled with the state attorneys general and since then the insider talk has centered around when the banks will begin the foreclosure process again. I just checked the MLS and there are 24 homes currently listed for sale as a foreclosure and 170 listed as a short sale. In DC some homeowners have not paid their mortgage in over 600 days.Â
The hottest neighborhoods in the Washington DC real estate market are H Street Corridor, Bloomingdale and Petworth. These three areas are seeing prices that they have never seen before mainly because of investor activity. It is very difficult to find a home under $400K especially in the H Street Corridor market. The prices in the H Street area seem to be catching up quickly with its more expensive southern neighbor-Capitol Hill proper. We are set up to see a very hot spring in the Washington DC real estate market.Â
