According to The Washington Post, home prices are on the rise and inventory is shrinking in the neighborhoods surrounding the site of Amazon's HQ2 in Arlington County. New data from Redfin indicates the two housing markets bracketing Crystal City are now the most competitive housing markets in the nation. Nearly half the homes in the 22202 ZIP code sold faster than both the Washington metro or nationally.
The homes also sold for more than their listing price, with multiple buyers who routinely waive the contingency clauses that protect them from unseen structural defects. All this in a market where fewer than half the number of homes are for sale now than a year ago.
“I had a condo listing right across from ‘ground zero’ of HQ2 last fall, and it had been on the market for 90 days with no interest at all. [The owner] was about to take the listing off the market,” said Mara Gemond, a Redfin agent with 15 years of experience in Northern Virginia. After the news leaked on Nov. 11 that Amazon chose the area, “all of a sudden, it sold for $70,000 more than we asked — and in one day.”
The buyer, like many who have popped up since then, was an investor who plans to rent the property. Other buyers, many of whom are local residents who have been renting and planning to buy soon, are also rushing to purchase before the Amazon employees, who will have average salaries of $150,000, arrive in force over the next few years. (Amazon said it plans to hire 400 this year and 1,000 to 1,500 in subsequent years. Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
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