Report: Washington has best real estate market in nation
The Washington area had the best real estate market in the nation during the last month of 2010 as home prices rose amid the biggest national price decline in more than a year, according to a new report.
Prices in the region increased by 4.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2009 to the fourth quarter of 2010, with Washington being one of only two metro areas to see a climb during that period. Nationally, prices fell by 4.1 percent, the biggest hit since summer 2009, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released Tuesday.
| Year-end best and worst markets in the country | ||
| National home prices fell 4.1 percent during the fourth quarter. | ||
| Fourth-quarter | Change from | |
| annual change | November to December 2010 | |
| Best | ||
| Washington | +4.1% | +0.3% |
| San Diego | +1.7% | -0.7% |
| Los Angeles | -0.2% | -1.3% |
| Worst | ||
| Atlanta | -8.0% | -0.9% |
| Phoenix | -8.3% | -1.7% |
| Detroit | -9.1% | -2.3% |
| Source: S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices | ||
The boost puts the region's housing prices 12.2 percent above their bottom in mid-2009, meaning the average home is now worth about its 2003 or 2004 value. The area's recovery over that time period is second only to San Francisco's.
Real estate agents said homes are selling quicker -- within two to three months -- and properties are drawing multiple offers.
"Anything under $300,000 is gone," said Karen Trainor, a broker at Weichert Realtors in Ashburn, adding that most homes under $600,000 are selling within months.
But it's a far more reserved atmosphere than in 2005, when homes sold in less than a day and received dozens of offers, she said. Instead, buyers are shopping to take advantage of the low interest rates and reasonable prices.
"So it doesn't mean that houses that are inappropriately priced are selling," Trainor said. "If they haven't sold in this market, then it's really off-price."
The region's market, which, during the housing crisis, has typically beaten the national average, is largely attributed to the relatively stable employment in the area. But Washington's performance last quarter is a particularly "stark difference" that has been building on momentum, said David Blitzer, Standard & Poor's index committee chairman.
"Over the last few years, a lot of places had their principal industry really get hit hard," he said. "All of the Sun Belt states used to have real estate; New York [had] financial services. ... Washington is highly focused on the government, and that's been much more stable."
The region's unemployment rate in December was 5.7 percent, the lowest metropolitan area rate in the country and far below the national average of 9.1 percent.
Anirban Basu, CEO of Baltimore's Sage Policy Group, added that jobs in the Washington area grew by 2 percent over the last year while nationwide, "jobs increased at a well less than 1 percent pace." That likely has staved off the second wave of foreclosures hitting the rest of the country.
"[Jobs] created the foundation for price stability and quite likely in certain parts of the metro area, prices are rising at a higher-than-single-digits pace," he said.
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