Will Home Prices Ever Drop in D.C.?

Here’s why home prices won’t fall in Washington, D.C. anytime soon. 

Often, I speak to people who tell me that they’re waiting for home prices in Washington, D.C. to go down before they buy. I get the sentiment, but before you go that route, ask yourself this question: “Will home prices ever fall in D.C.?” 

Many people have different opinions on this topic, so I’ll put it this way: It’s perfectly fine to wait for prices to drop—as long as you realize that day may never come. Consult a financial expert to see if the benefits of homeownership make sense for you, and make your decision from there. 

"Homes are regularly torn down in D.C. to build more condos."

There are plenty of legitimate reasons to not buy a house. However, if you’re waiting for prices to drop, I’m willing to go on record and say that it won’t happen in D.C. There may be years when they don’t go up, and there may be years when they fluctuate, but over the long run, I think prices are only increasing. As a conservative estimate, I don’t expect prices to go down one cent in at least the next decade. 

As a caveat, I think condos are different because of supply. The supply of homes in D.C. is decreasing every year. Within the district itself, there is almost no land to build new homes, and old ones are being torn down and replaced with condos every year. D.C. isn’t like other parts of the country where you can always just build a new subdivision. Land is scarce, and as a result, the supply of homes is decreasing, and the supply of condos is increasing. This doesn’t mean condo prices will definitely go down; that market is just harder to predict. 

If you have any questions about today’s topic, please call or email me. I’d love to help you in any way I can!