Arlington has been a hot market for a while thanks to good schools, proximity to DC and transportation, and a limited number of homes for sale. That hot market became blisteringly hot last fall when Amazon announced that Arlington was the winner in the nationwide search to locate the second headquarters. If you thought that the effect of Amazon’s impending arrival on the Arlington housing market would have lessened by now, you would be sadly wrong. 

I just went through the home search process this spring with a favorite client and I can attest to the fact that Arlington is a hard market in which to win a home – unless you are prepared to over bid significantly, waive all the contingencies, including financing, home appraisal, and inspections, and put write a very large earnest money deposit!

“In Arlington, market dynamics in April were driven, at least in part, by Amazon,” Andrew Strauch, Vice President at Bright MLS, told UrbanTurf. “The median sales price went up by 19 percent year-over-year driven by condos increasing in price by 12 percent and, even more importantly, single family home sales volume being up 20 percent. Inventory is down by 37 percent for single family homes and 60 percent for condos, so look for a very tight market in Arlington over the next few months which could drive up prices.”

Here are a few numbers that illustrate the climate of the Arlington housing market, six months after Amazon announced its plans to come to Northern Virginia. 

  • $661,500 — The median home sales price in April, up 18.9 percent compared to last April. 
  • $512,272 — The average price for a condo in April, up 16.3 percent. 
  • 72% — The increase in the number of homes that went under contract in Arlington compared to April 2018. 
  • 32 — The average number of days that homes spent on the market in April, a 44 percent drop compared to April 2018. 
  • 52% — The percentage of homes that sold in ten days or less in April. 
  • One — The monthly supply of homes for sale on the market, a 47 percent drop compared to last April.
  • 1.31 — The number of contracts per active listing in April. It has been above 1.0 since December. 

What does this mean for you? Should you keep trying to get into the Arlington market? Yes if you are looking for appreciation and you believe that the market will continue to appreciate. No, if you have limited resources and want to buy a home to live in. There are lots of other neighborhoods with great schools around the metro area besides Arlington, so lets talk about your options. My wonderful clients bought a fantastic home in Falls Church, a block from the metro and three blocks from shops and restaurants. They are going to be very happy and they didn’t have to throw a ridiculous amount of money at the process.

However, if you are looking for a rental property that will be easy to rent, then I think Arlington is a great place to focus on. I am working with a someone from Amazon right now who is moving to DC. He is just the type of tenant I would love to have in a rental property – and most of the people moving to the DC area with Amazon are going to be renting initially. Lets talk about your investment goals and make that happen this year!

As always you can reach me at 240-401-5577 or email me at Lise@lisehowe.com.