Washington DC/Baltimore

[new2DC]

What is the housing market like in Alexandria City, particularly Old Town? 

[philip-gvinter]

new2DC,

That is a very broad question, could you clarify what you mean a little bit so I can try to answer it for you? Are you looking for average prices, price trends, inventory? I can get the information from the agents on our Arlington & Alexandria team but want to make sure that I am asking them the right questions.

Thanks,

Phil

[new2DC]

Thank you for responding.  Is the market healthy?  Do recent trends favor buyers or sellers?   

[dss10]

Old town is pretty pricy in Alexandria. Its a great place to live but the housing prices (and Taxes) are pretty agressive compaired to what you would pay a mile or two south on the parkway. Most of the houses are relatively small (~1100-1400sqft) and if you have a family, the premium for 3 bed rooms over two is really high. The South East section of town is the most expensive driven by both the elementry school (Lyles-Crouch-Magnet School) and due to the fact that it is furtherst away from the coal grenerationg plan on the north side of town. The North East is hit or miss but tends to be more expensive the closer you get to King Street. There is some section 8 housing inyermingled in NE that some people think bring down the near by house prices but from what I've seen that has been little crime and every one seems to get along ok. You should know that the coal power plant is in the processs of being decommissioned and should be shhut down sometime this year which will increase the value of the houses in the north end of town so their might be some bargins to be had...The SW is for the most part cheaper than the NE due to a couple of large secton 8 apartment buildings and their has been crime issues from time to time. The Best houses in SW  can be found between Duke and King streets but there are some developments south of duke that I've been told are nice. NW, like SW the best houses are off King buth their are some cool lift type condos that were built on the northern edge.

FWIW, When we moved to old town, we found that renting was much cheaper than buying due to taxes and housing costs. We got a good deal on a 3 br house (1,800) that was far less than buying so if you really want to live in old town keep an eye out for for rent signs and do the rent vs buy analysis.

[Venturion]

I rarely agree with an entire post, especially one with so much detail, but dss10 is spot on.  Attractiveness by quadrant: SE, NE, NW, SW.  School: Lyles-Crouch, everything else is uncertain.  You might want to look at Del Ray, Rosemont, Beverly Hills as back-ups to Old-Town, but you lose walking access to the metros.  Stay away from anything on Patrick or Henry unless you like traffic and bus noise.  My favorite developments: Braddock Lofts & Brewery Lofts (by trader joe's).  Section 8 is rapidly being torn down and replaced with condo/townhouse developments.  Lots of construction underway in NW, so watch out that you don't move-in and have to deal with construction noise and stray nails for a year depending on the block.

[MarylandHome2]

My personal opinion is that Alexandria is way overpriced and as a citizen, you are afforded less protections in the areas of individual rights to prosper.  I've been looking in the DC metros and have found that Maryland and DC properties are more reasonably priced and offer more conveniences overall.  Taxes in VA are high (once you add iin all they require like VA's year over year personal taxes that include taxes on your car!)!