Question: How did Arlington real estate do in 2016?
Answer: Arlington continued its trend of stability and light growth in 2016 with 2,933 total transactions (just 39 more than 2015) and $1.87B in total sales volume (vs $1.85B last year). At an average net sold price (sold price less any seller credits) of $636,839, Arlington saw a price increase of .15%, while maintaining its 2015 market pace, with an average of 49 days on market per sale. The 22207 zip code continued its strong growth in 2016, cracking an average sold price of over $1M for the first time, due to the increasing number of expensive new homes replacing older teardowns.
Top Sales
- At $3.7M, the most expensive sale of the year goes to a nearly 4,500sqft penthouse-level condo in Turnberry Tower
- At $3,343,085 the most expensive single-family home boasted over 7,000 sq ft in the premier Country Club Hills neighborhood
- The most expensive sale in south Arlington (south of rt. 50) went to a 7,500 sq ft new home in Addison Heights (across from Crystal City) at $1,625,000
Macro Stats
I’ve charted some macro-level end-of-year stats below. The sold price is the net of the sold price less any seller credits. Days on the market measures market pace (under 30 days is considered very fast) and can be seen as a leading indicator of future pricing shifts (lower days = higher demand). “Discount” shows how much homes sell for compared to the original list price (100% means the buyer paid full price).
Note that the 22213 zip code has a substantially lower number of transactions (59 total) than any other zip code, so the YoY numbers are more easily influenced by a few outliers. The extreme days on the market for 22209 can be attributed to the increasing difficulty of selling units at the River Place Cooperative and the naturally longer sales period for the many luxury condo buildings.
Arlington has experienced steady, stable growth since 2010, which is something to be happy about while we wrestle with historically high office vacancy rates post-BRAC. As I wrote in November, the upcoming Trump years could provide Arlington a long-awaited bump in growth. Commercial developers and leasing firms remain positive on the long-term outlook for our office market. In 2017, the residential real estate community will keep a close eye on how increasing interest rates will impact buyer demand… and I will continue to keep you updated on our local market!
I hope everybody had a great end to 2016 and is looking forward to a successful 2017. If you or anybody you know has plans to buy, sell, or rent this year, don’t hesitate to give me a call at (703) 539-2529 or email me at [email protected].
