Meridian Hill Park Comes Full Circle

Until recently not many people were up to spending time in Meridian Hill Park. Located between 15th and 16th streets in the District, this lovely Washington DC landmark fell into decay and became fairly dangerous for the average visitor. Most stayed away as it gained a reputation as a haven for drug traffic. Vandalism and lack of care was an issue as well. I lived in the area all my life and up until last summer had never been in the park. However, I had passed by the park many times and wondered what was inside. From 16th street it sort of looked like a palace or fortress to me. And now that I have seen the park it has quickly become one of my favorite DC haunts.

Helped by the recent changes in the local neighborhood and  the efforts of some committed volunteers the park has undergone a transformation. There has been a lot of restoration work with more  scheduled but the beauty of this early century masterpiece is inescapable. Designed and built between 1912 and 1936 and  representative of the type of classical parks found in urban areas of Europe, the park sits on top of a the meridian fault line and offers some great views of the surrounding area. The focal piece is the Italian Renaissance style cascading fountain which was built to take advantage of the fall line running through Washington that separates the coastal plane from the Piedmont.

There are some very nice and unique statues in the park including my two favorites. The first is a fine statue of Dante and the other of Joan of Arc sitting on a horse. The park also features a  large memorial to James Buchannan, a lesser president who many do not know much about. Many locals also refer to the park as Malcolm X Park. Back in the 1970s there was a popular movement to change it's name to that officially. However since there is already a memorial to a past president, national park policy prevents a name change. Every Sunday for years the park has featured a famous "drum circle"- a popular local event that draws folks of all walks and many talented local drummers. I think the best time to visit the park is in the early morning or take a picnic and go sit by the fountain in the evening. You won't regret the trip.

I stopped in last week while doing some real estate work in the District and took some photos on my pad. Enjoy!

This Just in, The Recession is over!

This past Sunday I took a new listing in Elkridge, Maryland. It is a nice house in great shape and is priced around $450,000. Within a half hour of entering the home in the computer, I got a call from a fellow agent to show the house and she delivered an offer to me that evening. In 25 years this may be the fastest that I have ever seen an offer come in on a listing of mine. And this seems to be happening on a lot of homes. The housing market in the Metro area is not just recovering but is "hot" and taking off. Purchasers have been flocking to open houses and I know for a fact that three new listings out of my office had multiple contracts presented this week after just going on the market. Only three months ago agents were crying about how nobody was showing their listings. Now, just a few months later my fellow agents are crying about the shortage of suitable houses to show their clients! It has been that way in Montgomery County for about a month now and I am seeing this market activity expand out to Howard, and Frederick Counties in the past two weeks or so. The DC market is a little different as it has been very hot since the middle of last year.

Well, I am a bit cautious as I know that there are still things that have to be sorted out in Europe and many parts of the US still have an oversupply of homes on the market. In addition, we still have good number of distressed homes that will come on the market both in the region and nationwide. However, the expanding market is to me a refection in a resurgence of consumer confidence. I firmly believe that where the housing market goes the economy will follow. Right now it looks pretty darn good to me and this is the first time in over four years that I can say that. Let's see how this plays out.

Where are we going?

Well, there is not much I can say about the housing doldrums that we are going through right now. However, I caution all against using this recession as a gauge for analysing the housing market in Montgomery County and the metropolitan area. Housing prices go up and down with the economy-there is no secret about that and with the large recession of the past few years prices are down. I have seen it before and know that you cannot allow a few years of recession to bias your thoughts about property ownership. I tell all my clients that real estate should always be looked upon as a long term investment. If you happen to buy at the right time and reap the benefit of a rising market, so be it. However, you can also get caught with your fingers singed if you purchase at the wrong time and are looking for a quick gain.

Now, just look at Montgomery County and the long term projections for population growth. With just over a million residents now, it is projected that the population of the county may double within the next 25 years. With this influx of people comes job growth and most importantly demand for housing. People have to have homes and the fact is that much of the county has already been built out. There are two predictions that are of interest. One, is that due to the lack of suitable housing more people will be forced to live further out from their jobs (Frederick, Howard, Anne Arundel Counties) and commute longer distances. And as a result, the demand for homes that are in Montgomery County will be very high. So high in fact that the long term concern is that there will be a critical shortage of housing in the county far into the future and that home values "will go up" to the point where new residents will be priced out of the market.

In short, more people and not enough homes. What does this tell you about the overall value of homes in Montgomery County? This is not rocket science. If you can look beyond the current recession then you will see that over the long term this is a great place to buy property. It has been for the last half century. Recessions come and go but for the long term, owning a home in Montgomery County is a good thing. I would think that this data applies to the Washington Metro Area in general and expect the housing market for the overall area to be strong once the economy gets back on track. In short, buy property and plan on holding it. Property in the area is cheap now. It won't be for long