Considering Investing In Washington DC Homes
Whether you are looking to rent an apartment or are thinking of purchasing real estate in the Washington DC Metro area as an investment or for personal use, www.themarylandrealestateexpert.com team at Weightman Realty can help you with all your needs.
The Question to ask yourself is "Is this the time to buy an investment"? The Delta Association of Alexandria is a research company that follows apartment and condo trends. The Delta Association's 36 month projection of new rentals in the District has predicted that 36,951 new units will come on the market in the next three years. However with rental vacancy rates in Washington DC rising, this area still looks favorable to landlords due to the growing job market in and around the District. Delta's vice president believes that the district rental market is solid and that it is currently a good time for renters. This is because Washington DC has the fewest new apartments planned, it had the biggest rent increase in the past year, and it had the lowest vacancy rate when compared to Northern Virginia and Maryland Suburbs, even with rent in the District not being the cheapest around.
What is currently going on in the District's rental market
Apartment complexes are now not only competing with new apartments being built within the boundaries o the District, but they need to factor in the real estate investors, who have bought properties to rent. They have estimated that in the past year (2007) the supply of apartments and condos has grown by roughly 10,000 new rental units a quarter. If you look back and compare the District to Northern Virginia and the suburbs in Maryland, you will notice that the District had the fewest new apartments planned. It also had a 4.3% rent increase which happened to be the largest rent increase of the three areas. Last year in Washington DC real estate rental market had a vacancy rate of 2.9%. When the vacancy rate was taken during the fourth quarter of 2007 they found that the rate jumped up to 3.7%, due to the increasing numbers of rentals hitting the market. One factor that could of aided in this vacancy number increasing was due to developers opting to convert condo developments into rental apartments . Over the past two years it is estimated that developers have roughly converted 21,000 Condo units that were in their planning stage, under construction or delivered into apartments. If you are considering purchasing an investment property in the district, an important piece of information for you to know is that rent roughly increases in the area by 1.8%.
