Home | Newsletter | Advertise
loading...

Starter Homes in the DC Area Continue to Disappear

  • September 21st 2016

by Nena Perry-Brown

Starter Homes in the DC Area Continue to Disappear: Figure 1
A studio for sale in Adams Morgan.

Earlier this year, UrbanTurf reported that housing inventory has steadily decreased over the past four years both nationwide and in the DC area — especially where starter homes are concerned.

While starter homes have traditionally been an entry-point into putting down roots in an area, residents of the DC area can attest that the Trulia-defined segment for this type of home — a property priced for less than $280,000 — are scarce. And that point was only hit home by Trulia’s latest study.

Starter Homes in the DC Area Continue to Disappear: Figure 2

The 3,897 active starter homes for sale in the DC area in the third quarter of 2016 is 18.8 percent lower than in the second quarter of 2015, according to the new study. As inventory drops, median prices for this property segment have risen 7.7 percent — from just below $200,000 in the third quarter of 2015 to $215,333 last quarter.

As prices for starter homes have increased, so too has the percentage of income needed to afford a home in this segment. The percentage of income needed to buy a starter home in the DC area now stands at 32 percent, up from 30 percent last year.

For the purposes of this study, Trulia used a combination of public records sales and Multiple Listing Services data.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/starter_homes_still_few_and_least_affordable_when_buying_in_the_dc_area/11701.

DC Real Estate Guides

Short guides to navigating the DC-area real estate market

We've collected all our helpful guides for buying, selling and renting in and around Washington, DC in one place. Visit guides.urbanturf.com or start browsing below!

First-Timer Primers

Intro guides for first-time home buyers

Red Flags Revealed During a Home Inspection Top 5 Tax Breaks For Homeowners Tax Relief for DC Homeowners
Condo Fee Tutorial What is a Rent Back? 10 Ways To Tell If a Home Renovation is Well Done
Obtaining a Basic Business License For Your Rental What is an Adjustable Rate Mortgage? The Splitting the Rent Formula
How Much Cash Do You Need to Buy a House? Is This Condo Building Financially Healthy? Interest Rates and Mortgage Points
The Scoop on Mortgage Insurance

Unique Spaces

Awesome and unusual real estate from across the DC Metro

The Most Intriguing Loft in DC The R Street Firehouse DC’s One-Room House
Dupont Circle’s Old Frat House To Become Alley Home Best Transition From a Garage To a Home The Roundhouse
Tilden Gardens Restaurant-Turned-Home Hits Market Next Week Logan Circle’s Most Intriguing Garage Frank Lloyd Wright Goes Green in Kensington
Sears Bungalow Gets a Modern Makeover Old Town General Store Becomes Three-Level Home Making the Most of a Skinny House
A Studio 27 Renovation on Capitol Hill Once a Carriage House, Now a Home The Bank that Became a Home
From Pie to Hooch to Heroin to Home The Live-Aboards of Gangplank Marina A Treehouse with Rock Creek Park As A Backyard
Modern Tranquility in Sperryville Saddle Up For Stable Living Throwing a Curve at 550 Square Feet
A Modern Hilltop Retreat Tilden Street Restaurant Becomes Spacious Home Focus on Design: A Vastu Unit at 22 West
The DC Area’s First Net Zero Home A Yankee Goes Green DC’s First Carbon Neutral Home
Eco-Friendly Alley House Off H Street The Gym, The Stables and The Firehouse