The District saw the second-highest growth in homeownership in the nation over the past 10 years, joining just nine states to see such a surge during a decade when the housing bubble burst and depleted the ranks of homebuyers. With a 1.26 percent increase in homeowners since 2000, the District trailed just New Hampshire in its rate of homeownership growth, new census data shows. Hawaii, Connecticut and Rhode Island rounded out the top five.
Real estate agents say the District’s 42 percent homeownership rate — representing more than 112,000 homes — reflects a shift in perception of the nation’s capital among many former suburbanites who once refused to call the city home.
| Tale of the tape |
| Top 10 increase in homeownership |
| 1. New Hampshire 1.29% |
| 2. District 1.26 |
| 3. Hawaii 1.18 |
| 4. Connecticut .67 |
| 5. Rhode Island .65 |
| 6. Massachusetts .60 |
| 7. Alaska .57 |
| 8. New York .28 |
| 9. Illinois .20 |
| 10. Vermont .18 |
| Top 10 drop in homeownership |
| 1. South Carolina -2.88% |
| 2. Alabama -2.78 |
| 3. Florida -2.72 |
| 4. Mississippi -2.69 |
| 5. North Carolina -2.66 |
| 6. Idaho -2.50 |
| 7. Arkansas -2.42 |
| 8. Nevada -2.09 |
| 9. Oregon -2.07 |
| 10. Kentucky -2.07 |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau |
“There are a lot of folks who would not have considered D.C. before that who live here now,” said Kent Fowler, a real estate agent with D.C.-based Senate Realty. “It’s become more fun — a lot of singles. Why else would you see houses on U Street going for more than Cleveland Park?”
Added Mary Bayat, of Bayat Realty in Alexandria, “Let’s face it, people now want to stay closer to the Metro. Many of the people who moved out to the suburbs are moving back. People who previously wanted bigger and larger homes now want easy living.”
That’s not to say the D.C. housing scene is without its share of problems.
The District’s homeownership rate was well below the national average of 65.1 percent last year. By comparison, 67.5 percent of Marylanders and 67.2 percent of Virginia residents are homeowners; both states displayed only marginal shifts during the past decade.
Like major urban areas throughout the country, the District remains one of the few pockets in the region where renters overwhelmingly outnumber homeowners. Owners outnumbered renters in all but 1.5 percent of the 3,143 counties and equivalent areas nationwide last year, according to the census data.
In suburban Fairfax and Montgomery counties, for example, the percentage of homeowners remained flat over the past decade. Despite turbulence in the housing market, Fairfax’s 69.5 percent and Montgomery’s 70.1 percent homeowner rates were virtually unchanged between 2000 and 2010.
