Reply to Is buying a one-bedroom condo ever a good idea?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If we all had crystal balls, we'd all be rich.

[b]Historically 1bd condos in DC have only done so-so, since supply isn't constrained. If prices go up, new construction pops up in the new 'hot' neighborhood. Very few places, with the exception of Chinatown and parts of lower Dupont are fully built out. Supply seems to catch up with demand.[/b] This is especially true as most 1bd buyers do not care about schools/are amenable to semi-gentrified areas. Taste in amenities changes over time. (Roof decks are now a thing, will they be in 20 years?) There are just two limiting factors, the availability of lots and the cost of construction. The market reflect this. Now if things change, then prices will go up/down.

This is not true for SFH/town-homes. Buyers tend to care about schools. School gentrification is much much slower than property gentrification. This is why WTOP/Cap Hill has such a price premium. Plus, there just aren't that many lots where it is feasible to build or add to supply within DC limits. But this advantage may now be *fully priced* into the value - so it isn't clear that there will be more future growth. Some of these properties gained value since lots of millennials decided they wanted to live in the city rather than in a suburbs, but the boomer sellers didn't know that when they bought 30+ years ago. My neighborhood WOTP is now full of dual income 30-somethings with younger kids.

Keep in mind, many SFH are only worth 1M+ due to the price of the underlying land, NOT the actual property. (There is no way a physical row house/duplex in Glover/AU is worth 1M; rather, each row house is worth 300-500K, with the rest being the value of the land they sit on) The market reflect this. Now if things change, then prices will go up/down.

Again, lots of things are already priced in to home/condo costs. The market reflect this. Now if things change, then prices will go up/down. It is hard to predict the future. [/quote]

Great point. I never considered this, and I always wondered why the prices for 1 bedrooms have pretty much stayed constant.[/quote]

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