The lovely Byron Condominiums,
"A Luxury Condominium Complex in the Heart of Falls Church"
A person who wishes to remain anonymous sent me illustrative information regarding falling prices in a condo building in Northern Virginia (suburbs of Washington, DC) . Thank you to this individual.
- Developer's site: http://www.thebyron.com/
- HOA's site: http://513westbroad.googlepages.com/
- Location: Google Maps
"Sales data collected from the City of Falls Church real estate assessor's site. The sales are listed in chronological order. There have been 67 residential unit sales, with 18 units still unsold. The most interesting take away from the table is the incredibly significant decrease in the price per square foot. The peak price of $505 / sf was in Dec 2006. The trough to date is $345 / sf in Feb 2008."
"A scatter chart of the Price/sf relative to Date of Sale. Again, incredible."
In October 2006 a 2br condo unit (#404) in this building which has 1814 sq. feet sold for 808,226K. This is 446 per sq. foot. On the floor below it there is unit #304 which has the same layout and size. It sold in February 2008 for 625,000. These two units, #304 and #404, in 2008 were assessed for about the same (less then 1% difference). These units for nearly all purposes are equivalent. However, the price for this type of unit in this building has fallen 22.5% in nominal terms or about 183,000 dollars. In inflation adjusted terms this type of unit is down more more then 25%. Falls Church is an inner suburb. The price per sq. foot has fallen from $446 to $345, or 22.5%. Waiting to buy a housing unit has been prudent over the past few years in the Washington, DC area.
Condo prices are definitely falling in the Washington, DC area. Generally, prices on condos have fallen significantly more then single family housing units. Condo prices have generally fallen 15 - 40% in inflation adjusted dollars from their peak. Expect further prices declines on housing units in the Washington, DC area.
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