State of the D.C. Condo Market: Prices May Rise, Apartment Projects May Go Condo Soon…

Delta Associates third quarter condo report was released yesterday, and the numbers look good—well, better than usual—for the District. I did not spot the term “condo glut” once. In the last few months, several projects were cancelled and a few were “reprogrammed,” but Delta expects that demand will rise again soon here and across the river in Arlington and Alexandria. As we reported during the last go-round, it looks like prices won’t be falling too much more.

• In the last year, condo prices dropped three percent in the District, compared to six percent in the entire metropolitan area.

• The report suggests that condo prices will probably start to rise in the District and the Arlington/Alexandria areas given the current number of units for sale. (”History tells us that at 2 to 2.5 years of inventory and below,prices tend to move up smartly. Currently, Arlington County & the City of Alexandria and the District have the lowest inventory-to-sales ratios in the metro area. Prices declined the least during the past twelve months in these two submarkets.”)

• Price increases may lead to new developments in “select submarkets,” likely D.C. and Arlington/Alexandria. The report suggests that in the next 12 to 18 months, “we may see a trend of apartment projects switching to condos in select submarkets due to a tightened condo pipeline and increased demand.” And a waves of new developments may start rippling through high-demand areas in 2011.

Tags: Condos, Delta Associates