Officially known as the District of Columbia, Washington D.C. is the capital of the United States of America. The District of Columbia consists of three branches of government: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. D.C. is known for its impressive neoclassical monuments, its museums, and venues.
One of the main beauties offered by the city of Washington D.C. is within its architecture. With rows of brick houses and massive government agencies, D.C has it all on a silver platter. From blues bars to club fuelled by frenetic energy, life can either be bohemian through Adams Morgan neighborhood or diverse in Dupont Circle. Students have taken over the neighborhood of Foggy Bottom. The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts makes it so there is not one dull day on the packed streets of Washington D.C.
Looking for a house in Washington D.C. can be challenging. The input from real estate agents in Washington D.C. will come in handy if you decide that D.C. is the place for you. Prices range in the district and it may be intimidating to look at it overall. You can find affordable apartments even in Washington D.C. with a bit of know-how of the market’s inner workings.
Housing trends in the capital
The city of Washington D.C. has been living with the stigma of the most expensive place to buy a house in the U.S. A stigma that has been given by CBS News back in 2015 and it has been shading the other 50 states ever since. Even in 2016, the district’s median home value has been over $554,000 and the increase did not stop there. With the market today, a home in Washington D.C. is higher than the national average by approximately 60%. Dealing with increasing housing costs ever since the last national decrease in the market during the 2008 economic crisis, the climb has been steady ever since the middle of 2015 and it will continue to grow at the same rate if the market doesn’t change dramatically.
Currently, the average cost of a house in Washington DC is $637,000. Home values have increased in the past year by 3.1% and they are predicted to go further up by 4.3% during 2021. Rent can be found as low as $1,400 and can even be cut in half if you can share the apartment with a partner or friend. You can find affordable rent in Washington D.C. in most areas especially if you look at the up-and-coming neighborhoods for cheap deals.
Affordability
For a comfortable living in Washington D.C., it is necessary to have an income that would provide financial security. The increase in Washington’s median household income did not stop in 2017 when there was a difference of 9.1% since the previous year. Records show that the trend has continued even if the escalation has decreased. Since the previous year, there has been a wage growth of 3.1%. This growth has been continuous ever since the second quarter of 2018 and now, regarding the last data recorded, there has been a change of 16.6% since 2006.
An average salary in Washington D.C. rests currently at $75,000 also there is a growing trend in wages by 1% since the last quarter. With a median household income of $91,000 that is the second-highest in the nation, Washington D.C. has one of the best economies in the U.S. This, however, provides for an affordability ratio of 7. It should be lower as the affordability ratio is calculated between the household income and expenditure on housing. You divide the housing price by the household income and get this ratio. The lower the ratio is the more affordable an acquisition is.
It all depends on which neighborhood you are looking at. There are some up-and-coming neighborhoods that have property prices which are, in some cases, lower than the national average. Fort Dupont, for instance, has a median property price of $259,500 so prices vary from one neighborhood to the next.