Last month, the first million-dollar home reportedly sold in Brookland: a five-bedroom, four-bathroom abode with 3,000 square feet of interior space, sitting atop more than double that in land.
Today, the District’s Office of Revenue Analysis suggests that million-dollar homes in D.C. may be a little passé, at least in terms of how residents define “luxury”: An analysis of home sales posted on their District, Measured blog shows that single-family homes costing $2 million or more make up more than four percent of all sales this year.
“With sales of $1 million becoming more and more ‘commonplace,’ it may be time to set the barrier higher in terms of what constitutes luxury,” explains author Steven Giachetti, a director at ORA. “This redefinition would also better align the D.C. market with other expensive housing markets in the nation where $1 million no longer carries the same cachet and exclusivity that it did ten years ago.”
While the share of single-family home sales in the $1.5 to $2 million range has remained at 2.4 percent between this year and last, the share of sales recorded at more than $2 million grew about 0.4 percentage points, while that of sales from $1 to $1.5 million jumped 2.5 percentage points. Since 2001, the percentage of all home sales $1 million or greater has grown from a measly three percent in that year to 19 percent to date this year.
In terms of neighborhoods, Georgetown alone accounts for roughly one-third of the priciest homes sold in D.C. this year—almost double its share compared with 2013. Georgetown, Kalorama, Cleveland Park, Kent, Berkley, and Spring Valley together make up about 75 percent of the home sales equal to or greater than $2 million. Between 2014 and 2015, moreover, all those neighborhoods except for Kalorama saw a rise in such sales.
“Given the upward trend in prices, it may not be too long before five percent of all homes sold in District top $2 million.” Giachetti says.
Graphs via District, Measured