Trulia: DC Home Prices Rise As Rent Increases Slow Down

• December 4, 2012
• 4 Comments

by Shilpi Paul

Data released today reveals that asking prices in the DC area and around the country continue to move up steadily, exceeding the pace that rents are increasing in many cities.

In November, asking prices rose by 6.4 percent year-over-year in the DC area and 3.8 percent nationwide, according to Trulia’s latest Price and Rent Monitors, which were released this morning. (If you exclude foreclosures, asking prices year-over-year nationally increased 4.3 percent.)

But the increase in home prices depends on where you are.

“Prices are rising faster than at any point since the bubble burst, but the price recovery is becoming more uneven,” said Jed Kolko, Trulia’s Chief Economist. “Even though prices rose at a 10 percent annualized rate in the last quarter, more metros are seeing price declines. The price recovery is strongest in the largest metros, and price gains have now surpassed rent gains in the largest 25 rental markets. However, price gains are starting to waver in smaller markets.”

While home prices in the region are rising, Trulia’s Rent Monitor found that rents are slowing down considerably. In DC, asking rents were up 2.6 percent year-over-year, down notably from a 3.4 percent increase in September. Nationwide, rents rose 5.6 percent annually. Houston, Cleveland and Oakland were the only cities with year-over-year rent increases that exceeded 11 percent.

For more stats and analysis, click here.

A full explanation of Trulia’s methodology can be found here, but in short, the Price and Rent Monitors compare current asking prices and asking rents year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter, adjusting for seasonal swings.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/trulia_dc_home_prices_rise_as_rent_increases_slow_down/6380

4 Comments

1. Juliet Zucker said at 5:51 pm on Tuesday December 4, 2012:

   All about supply & demand.  Perhaps DC rent increases are slowing down because demand for rental housing is changing. Wonder what this will mean for the many new apartment developments slated to come on line in DC in the next year or so.

1. JB said at 11:04 am on Wednesday December 5, 2012:

   Juliet…Actually the pipeline of development is smaller than it has been in the past few years so we will actually be having less available units respectively ...

1. Peter said at 1:04 pm on Wednesday December 5, 2012:

   Juliet, good question.  I wonder if urban turf can give us, if they have not already, an update from their article in the spring:

   http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dc_will_be_a_renters_market_by_late_2012/5365

1. Mark Wellborn said at 11:54 am on Thursday December 6, 2012:

   Peter,

   Look for an update to the article that you allude to in early January.

   Thanks,

   Mark Wellborn
   Editor

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