patrick.net

APOCALYPSEFUCK says

RE brokers should be outlawed as well as mortgages. If you have the money, you buy a house. If not, you camp out in your car or rent.

Has it ever been a buyer’s market here?

Yes. From about 1994-1997 there was one.

I live in Baltimore. Federal salaries are increasing. The size of the federal bureaucracy is increasing. These are the simple main reasons why DC home prices continue to inflate. If we ever had leaders who cut federal spending and the number of federal jobs then LOOK OUT!. Major crash in DC housing. Sadly, I do not expect that to happen soon.

Did you forget what Obama did to federal workers last year?

DC got whole lot of federal workers, but that has nothing to do with recent home price inflation for they're the people that got salaries frozen, in other words, got squeezed. With that level of salaries, they're are pretty much destined to be middle class at best in DC metro area, and all that they can afford is condo or small town house. Pension? Benefits? forget about it if you're just so so fed guy.

I was wondering what would happen in DC housing market if federal government shutdown had happened and lasted for two months. Those people in paycheck to paycheck may miss one or two payments, and that's about it. Those people who earns outrageous salaries by doing shit job won't be affected much by that. So who in washington earns outrageous salary? Not your ordinary fed worker neighbor. They are the very people we elected to serve us, those people in outskirts of DC who can talk to them, which is the same people who forced obama froze fed salaries while the freeze has nothing to do with their own salaries.

The federal pay freeze is on paper only. Federal workers still get step increases and of course they still get pay raises when they get promoted despite the pay freeze.

No offense, but how does one live in Baltimore? I took Amtrak down to DC last summer from NYC and when the train went through Baltimore, I thoguht I was in Detroit. I saw entire blocks of boarded up row houses, many of which only had 3 walls. I'm sure you know which neighborhood I am talking about, since it was right by the train station.

HousingWatcher says

No offense, but how does one live in Baltimore?

With kevlar vests and lots of ammo. Potatoes and sharp objects will do nothing to save you in that town.

I think you will also need an armored car... something like this:

http://conquestvehicles.com/index.html

All I know is that after driving through DC a few years ago I'm probably not ever going to move there. The traffic was awful! That's coming from someone who lives in California.

edvard2 says

All I know is that after driving through DC a few years ago I’m probably not ever going to move there. The traffic was awful! That’s coming from someone who lives in California.

Agreed. The traffic does suck. However, DC is among the topmost in job opportunities and high income, which is reflected in the RE prices.

Think out of the box. :) My office is downtown DC and I live out in MD. Door to door it's about 35 miles one way. That's a 70 mile roundtrip if driving. That's ~4 gallons of gas (remember, bumper to bumper traffic...mpg sucks) and parking in DC. That's roughly $25-30 everyday depending on where you park.

Now....park around a metro station and take the train! The maximum fare roundtrip is $10.50. Even if you park at the station it's $4 a day. Almost half the cost of driving with no bumper to bumper. :)

Hence why all RE around metro stations is way overpriced... :(

edvard2 says

All I know is that after driving through DC a few years ago I’m probably not ever going to move there. The traffic was awful! That’s coming from someone who lives in California.

I feel the same everyday. DC traffic is a b**ch, isn't it? We, washingtonians need two more lanes in every roads in and along the DC at both directions. Well, that's not gonna happen soon. DC government is always broken, can't pay their phone bill. Federal government is sort of messed up too, and can't imagine arlington and fairfax county do anything about it.

Me and the wife used to take metro train for years. Now that "kiss and ride" days are gone due to her medical condition. I have to give her ride to her office in downtown DC thru I395 and drive back to where I work. Then go back to DC, pick her up, hit the road again all the way down to where we live, every 6 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon. It's freakin tired but I am kinda doing ok since I get on the road early. Others who get on the road later than 7 in the morning will burn more gas idling on the road. No wonder washingtonians look tired and defensive.

Recent C-S report come out, and this is what CNN said.

***
Of the 20 cities, only Washington has posted a home-price gain: 4.3% over the past 12 months.

Minneapolis homes lost the most value over that period, with prices falling 10%.

Other big losers include Phoenix (- 8.4%), Chicago (- 7.6%) and Portland, Ore. (- 7.6%)
***

4.3% gain... WTF is so special about DC?

PersainCAT. Yeah, as a fairfax resident and DC commuter I am, I do know that.
But still, that does not explain one thing. Why is DC the only city that gains while others don't? You know NYC and SF is doing quite well, and government money is going there too.

seaside says

4.3% gain… WTF is so special about DC?

People believe this area is special, so they buy without doing their homework. It will unwind one way or another. Just a lot of stupid, quasi-wealthy retards.

Lots of people are moving to DC for jobs at the moment. Also, housing is overpriced a bit relative to rent in the nicer areas, but not as much as some other areas like California were.
I think when the economy starts recovering elsewhere, less people will be migrating here to escape lack of jobs elsewhere. The gov't spending will decrease & things will return to balance.
The traffic is horrible here. Thankfully, I don't commute in it. It is just a side-effect of lots of growth & certainly is an inhibitor to increased growth.

klarek says

seaside says

4.3% gain… WTF is so special about DC?

People believe this area is special, so they buy without doing their homework. It will unwind one way or another. Just a lot of stupid, quasi-wealthy retards.

Will it actually unwind in the next decade? Depressing to think I will be eligible to join AARP before prices fall here.

Montacute says

Will it actually unwind in the next decade?

I wouldn't say unwind, but since incomes here outperformed the rest of the nation over the past decade and govt spending is on overdrive, there could be a reversion over the next ten years. That is, incomes won't go up a whole lot, maybe even below the rate of inflation.

don't get too enthralled, lots of DC is working poor and much of PG is working poor.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/2011/06/09/the-price-isnt-right/

look at the difference, almost 10X between Georgetown and Deanwood.

Deanwood is full of the underclass, or Hyattsville.

HousingWatcher says

No offense, but how does one live in Baltimore? I took Amtrak down to DC last summer from NYC and when the train went through Baltimore, I thoguht I was in Detroit. I saw entire blocks of boarded up row houses, many of which only had 3 walls. I'm sure you know which neighborhood I am talking about, since it was right by the train station.

There are parts of Baltimore that do look like that. But Baltimore is one of those places where you can go a block and it's as if it's a another planet.

As to how one can live here, for what I paid for my house (32K) I can live here just fine and ride out the housing bubble and still sell my house for way more than I paid for it in 2003. Rents around here are outrageous and I paid less for my house (cash, no mortgage) than I would have paid in rents.