February 01, 2015

LeDroit Park was a hot market in 1978, but much more affordable than today

400 block of Elm Street NW

A neighbor pointed us to this 1978 article in the Washington Star naming LeDroit Park the neighborhood with the highest annual appreciation in single-family home assessments. Home values increased 51% in just two years.

Much of the increase was attributed to Howard University’s purchase of homes in the neighborhood. The university has since divested itself of nearly all single-family houses here.

The average neighborhood assessment back then, according to the assessor quoted in the article, was about $25,000.  Even in 1978 that was considered low and the figure was about 1.5 times the District’s median household income in 1979, which was $16,211. In 2013 the average sales price of a LeDroit Park home (including condos) was $562,029, which was 9.2 times the District’s median household income in 2013, which was $60,675.

Categories: Demography, History
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