A Resurgence of New Condo Sales in Parts of the DC Area

• April 25, 2018

by Nena Perry-Brown

The resurgence of the new condo market predicted at the top of this year is coming to fruition in the DC area.

The latest new condo report from Delta Associates shows that 432 new condos sold in the region during the first quarter of 2018, the most in a quarter since the second quarter of 2016. The jump in sales was led by suburban Maryland with 122 percent more sales in the first quarter of 2018 compared to the first quarter of 2017; sales rose by 3 percent in DC proper and dropped off by 46 percent in Northern Virginia.

"The Washington region’s condo market started off the year with relatively strong sales activity," the report explains. "Price growth should continue to be moderate in the first few quarters of 2018 before accelerating later in the year and 2019." For context, prices rose year-over-year by 5.9 percent in the District, 5.6 percent in Northern Virginia, and fell by 3.9 percent in suburban Maryland for a regionwide net increase of 2.1 percent.

Prince George's County led the region in new condo sales with 110 units going under contract — more than half the volume sold there in the 12 months that ended in March. This huge upswing is primarily attributable to new condos coming online at National Harbor. The Capitol East DC submarket had the second-most contracts this quarter, with 78 new units sold.

Supply is expected to dictate the pace of the market moving forward, as the 36-month pipeline for new units rose by 15 percent year-over-year. Compared to 897 new units that delivered in 2017, 1,698 are slated to deliver this year and another 2,123 are slated to break ground, nearly 600 more units than broke ground last year.

Northern Virginia accounts for 46 percent of the upcoming units in the 36-month pipeline; however, that may not be sufficient. "Generally, there’s projected to be a shortage of product in Northern Virginia, while in the District and Suburban Maryland, there is projected to be more supply than demand," the report states.

Sub-market definitions:

• Capitol East includes Capitol Hill, Capitol Riverfront, Hill East, NoMa, Southwest Waterfront, and everything east of the Anacostia River.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/a-resurgence-of-new-condo-sales-in-some-dc-area-submarkets/13891