Top 10 Hottest Neighborhoods in DC according to MRIS

Photo by PoPville flickr user Nikoo’s Photos

From MRIS:

“How We Determined the Hottest Neighborhoods:
To find the hottest neighborhoods, we looked at the median days on market for homes sold from January 2014 through April 2014. Then, we compared that number with last year’s days on market for each neighborhood. All of the subdivisions that made the cut had a median days on market of ten days or less.

2014’s 10 Hottest Neighborhoods in DC

#1 Takoma Park, Washington, DC
Takoma Park, DC is the very definition of affordable homes that are close enough inside the District to make a commute easier than one from the suburbs. This neighborhood has one of the shortest selling times—with a median days on market of just seven days (this has come down from last year when homes were selling in a median of 12 days). The median selling price is $380,000 so homes here are attractive to plenty of first time buyers. It also helps that the neighborhood has a sizable stock of row houses and single-family homes so those who want to get out of living in a condo can transition to this neighborhood without having to jump up significantly in price.

#2 Wakefield, Washington, DC
The very northern tip of the Cleveland Park is also one of DC’s fastest moving neighborhoods and with frequent bus lines, a few metro stations, and abundant retail and restaurants it is easy to see why. Officially called Wakefield, it is the triangle north of Yuma Street between Nebraska and Connecticut Avenues where homes are selling in a median of seven days. We could even say that this is one of DC’s most popular neighborhoods since sales prices have jumped up a full fifty percent in the past year. For 2013 they sold at a median of $356,000 but so far in 2014 the median sales price has been $532,500.

#3 Rhode Island Avenue NE, Washington, DC
Rhode Island Avenue is in the middle of such rapid growth it makes sense that homes there are selling in half as much time as last year. With the major development of Rhode Island Row that turned the barren stretch of land near the metro station into a walkable community it is a hot place to be. Homes there are selling in a median of just eight days, down from twenty days in 2013.

#4 Chevy Chase, Washington, DC
Chevy Chase, the portion that is in DC, is a mecca for people who want a balance between the suburbs and the city. With convenient access to plenty of retail, but with enough trees and wider streets, it meets the needs of many homebuyers for this area. Homes there are selling in a median of eight days with a median sales price of $930,000. Competition for houses is tough, with only thirty-eight active listings on the market as of the end of April (but it is slightly better than last year when there were only twenty-five active listings in the same time frame).

#5 Mount Pleasant, Washington, DC
Mt. Pleasant is the next spot on the list, with a median DOM of nine days. This has always been a popular place to live with its proximity to all that 18th Street has to offer and access to several of the city’s main driving arteries, but the housing stock is mostly row houses or higher-end condos so the prices are noticeably higher. So far in 2104 the median sales price is $620,000, which is thirty percent higher than 2013 when homes sold for a median price of $474,900.

#6 American University Park, Washington, DC
American University Park comes in next, with a median days on market of nine days just like Mt. Pleasant. However this neighborhood has increased its DOM by a few days compared to last year when properties sold in a median of six days. Three days isn’t much of a call for alarm but can probably be attributed to how much higher the price is in this part of town. With so many single family detached houses and large backyards it is a prime location for families. Prices there are at a median of $925,000 so far this year, up from $849,900 in 2013.

#7 Old City #1, Washington, DC
Of course the perennial favorite of Capitol Hill is going to be on this list since just about any list of hot real estate activity will include this very popular neighborhood (for our purposes we used the boundaries that are officially called Old City #1, which includes Capitol Hill). Its easy access to The Hill, the very family friendly public spaces, the gathering place of Eastern Market, and all the restaurants that have cropped up in the past few years make this one of DC’s most sought after neighborhoods. Houses there are selling in a median of ten days, which is especially low considering the median asking price is $664,200 (even higher than last year’s median of $625,000).

#8 Brookland, Washington, DC
Brookland has come into its own recently, especially with the Monroe Street Market complex making it more of a destination than ever before. It is just slightly behind its neighbor of Rhode Island Avenue (see above) with homes selling in a median of ten days. Sales prices there have increased considerably in the past year. The year-to-date for 2014 is $469,950, whereas it was only $378,000 last year.

#9 Cleveland Park, Washington, DC
Cleveland Park gets to make the list twice—once earlier with the northern section (called Wakefield) and now again with the more central part of the neighborhood. The main part of Cleveland Park has a median of ten days on market (as opposed to eight for Wakefield) but is coming in at a lower price range. Median sales prices here are $448,000 (compared to $532,500 for the northern portion), but that is probably because the housing stock has so many smaller units available.

#10 Spring Valley, Washington, DC
Spring Valley comes in at number ten and is the most expensive neighborhood to make our list. The median sales price here is $1,427,500 but that isn’t stopping half of the homes to sell in ten days or less. This lush neighborhood barely feels like a city with so many quiet streets and large yards so it is another one of those places that rise to popularity because it finds the balance between urban and suburban living.”