Doughboy, a while back you asked me about the state of the DC rental market, and I had to plead ignorance.
Found a few snips of info in a local paper recently on the DC rental price scene, but can't post the whole story due to inability to find it on the paper's website.
Story (Aug. 2 Examiner Newspaper) said, among other things.....
<<Spurred by the District's hot housing market--average home prices have doubled in the last five years--city rents have shot up more dramatically as the supply of rentals drops.
Between 2001 and 2003 alone, the median rent of two-bedroom residences in the District rose 84 percent.
City officials have not monitored one major trend that could reduce the availability of rental housing: condominium conversions.
Driven by low interest rates, conversions of rentals into condos may have taken thousands of units off the market, leaving their renters to find new homes.
The District's Dept of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, which handles those permits, began adding up the totals only after The Examiner newspaper asked.
So far hundreds of buildings--115 in 2003, 122 in 2004 and more than 93 to date this year--have been converted. There is no word yet as to how many actual apartments were involved....>>
[There's more to the story, but most of it concerned how Maryland's Prince Georges County is claiming that these displaced DC residents are moving into their county, often using federal rent vouchers, and may be shifting poverty and social problems to the county. Some experts disagree, saying the number of DC emigrants to PG County is small. PG County claims about 500 people move into the county per year on Section 8 vouchers, with about 300 coming from DC. |
