Washington, D.C
5 BOLD Predictions for the Washington DC | The FUTURE of Washington DC Real Estate Will SHOCK YOU! – DC Real Estate Mama
5 BOLD Predictions for the Washington DC
It was a tough year for real estate. The past year of 2024 saw higher mortgage interest rates and in many U.S. markets, less buyers. We experienced a shift here in DC metro as well. What’s going to happen now that the new year is here? Will there be more for sale? Here are Melissa’s 5 bold predictions for DC area real estate in 2025.
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The Buyers are Coming Back
I knew this was going to happen. I had been telling clients all last year – this is the time to buy. It’s hard to convince people of this though because I’ve learned some things during my two+ decades in real estate (and in life.) People generally operate with a “today” mindset. They hyperfocus on the present almost to the exclusion of the future.
Here’s why I knew it was time for buyers to return. First, there are always soft spots in the real estate market in the DC area. Those soft spots are August and December. The market resets after those two months. Since we didn’t see much of a recovery in September after everyone finished their summer vacations, I expected that it would come for us in “spring,” i.e. after the new year.
Second, every time there’s a giant thud that stops the velocity of the real estate market – think Sept 11th, 2008 housing crash, or covid, things stop. But they never stop for long. The sharp rise in interest rates has had time to set a “new normal,” and it was time for the buyers to get back out there.
When people ask what I think the spring market will be like, I tell them I’ll know on January 2nd. Why is January 2nd so magical? I know people. And like clockwork, people who want to buy homes all decide to reach out to an agent on January 2nd. I got several calls from potential new clients on January 2nd this year, and a call or two each subsequent day into the first week of January. That’s my barometer. It’s going to be a busy season.
DC Real Estate Will Bounce Back
We all use the term “DC” when we mean the entire metro area. But in this case, DC actually means DC. The city. Inside the DC City limits.
What do I mean that it will bounce back? We saw a drastic reduction in buyer interest in DC properties in the past year.
The neighborhoods that were “up and coming” had slowed due to increased crime. As I heard from another agent recently who brought a buyer to one of my listings, “The third time her car got stolen she knew it was time to move.”
Well. There was that.
In 2023, homicides in the city hit a 20 year high, at 274. But in 2024, crime was down in all categories. Homicides were down over 30%, Robbery down 40% and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon down 27%.
How did the people of DC respond?
In late 2024, the Mayor’s office released data that DC had the biggest single-year population gain since 2013. The District added 15,000 residents from July 2023 to July 2024. That’s pretty good considering it put the city over the 700,000 mark for population.
Administration Changes Will Change Nothing in Real Estate
Everyone believes that there’s this huge exodus of people who leave DC when the administration changes. That’s not true. Here’s a chart to prove this. These are close sales, by month, going back a decade. Look at the election years – 2016, 2020 – do you see any outliers in those years? No. They look like all the other years. So why do people believe this? The short answer is “I don’t know.”
When a new administration comes in with all new people, yes, some of them buy homes. But often, the homes you hear about them buying are the high dollar homes. It makes a great headline, right? But, for every $2M+ home that is purchased by some high-ranking official in the new administration, there are probably 25 homes that aren’t purchased that you won’t hear about.
Incoming people often leave a family behind in another state and commute back and forth. They may purchase a small pied a terre or they may rent. Those in the administration that is leaving office find jobs elsewhere. They don’t just pick up and leave DC because the administration changed. There are plenty of jobs here and they have plenty of connections to secure one of those jobs. Leaving DC would accomplish nothing for them really. They would have fewer job prospects in most other cities. Thus, administration changes really don’t change anything.
Back to the Office
All those empty office buildings eventually had to come back to life. Some have been turned into residential buildings, but other companies have said, “It’s time to come back.”
Trump has made no secret of the fact that he’s going to get people back to the office. Every day. He’s also enlisted Elon Musk to head up Government Efficiency so that should be interesting. I love that name; it’s the world’s best oxymoron. Initial reports stated that they were going to eliminate 100,000 jobs. Will this actually happen? No one knows. Election promises, as we all know, operate in a vacuum. These two can’t unilaterally cut 100,000 jobs, but yes, there will probably be shakeups.
What happens if 100,000 jobs are actually cut? Many of those people will go on to find employment elsewhere. I don’t worry about things until they happen and if they do, the metro area has enough opportunity to absorb those employees into other agencies or the private sector.
Different Price Points, Different Realities
I’ve had this conversation with probably a dozen different buyers over the past six months. When interest rates were low, every price point was affected. Buyers for the $200,000 homes and buyers for the $2M homes were all rushing to snap something up to get the low interest rate locked in for 30 years. When the mortgage rates went up above 7% this past year, most people thought that buying activity would soften across the board. But, surprisingly, it didn’t.
Those in the luxury price points were unaffected. Luxury in the DC Area used to mean $1M or more, but now $1M for a house can be a starting price for many first-time buyers. The buyers in that $1M – $1.4/$1.5M price point were also mostly unaffected. There was slightly less competition. Instead of 5 buyers per home, maybe it was 2-3 buyers.
The biggest changes happened in the sub $600,000 price point. When rates were 3%, there were 10 or 15 buyers for the $500,000 and $600,000 homes. That’s a first-time buyer price point for many buyers. When the rates went up, the number of buyers at those price points, and lower, went from maybe 10 buyers per home down to no buyers or just one buyer. Interesting, right? Why though?
If you think about it, these are entry level price points in this area. You can find homes in some areas for $300,000 and it’s the same story there as it is in the $500,000 to $600,000 price point. The buyer for these homes has a tighter budget, less in savings usually and something like a point or two in an interest rate increase can take them right out of the market.
The good news though is that for those who are left, this is a sweet spot right now! Will it remain this way? I expect the luxury market to continue full steam ahead, business as usual in 2025. I expect more buyers in the sub $600,000 price point to start returning back into the market, but I don’t know that we’ll see them back in full force until 2026 when mortgage rates are expected to come down once again.
Washington, D.C
What’s that noise? What you need to know about D.C. flyovers Friday and Saturday – WTOP News
Reagan National Airport will close for America 250 flyover rehearsals Friday and celebrations Saturday featuring the Thunderbirds, Blue Angels and more.
Reagan National Airport will close from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday for rehearsals ahead of this weekend’s America 250 celebrations, meaning people around D.C., Arlington and Alexandria may hear and see low-flying military aircraft.
According to Freedom 250 event organizers, Friday’s “Wings of Freedom” demonstrations over the National Mall will feature parachute teams, helicopters and military aircraft, including the U.S. Marine Corps’ MV-22 Osprey and F-35B, the Navy’s F-18F and F-35C, the Air Force’s F-22 Raptor, the Thunderbirds and a tri-bomber formation.
On Saturday, the FAA will close the airport from noon to midnight for the full celebration. All arrivals and departures at Reagan National are scheduled to end before noon.
Flyovers and demonstrations are scheduled throughout the afternoon and evening along the National Mall and Washington Monument grounds, including appearances by Air Force One, the Thunderbirds, Blue Angels, military aircraft fleet reviews, parachute demonstrations and B-2 stealth bombers.
Highlights include an Air Force One flyover scheduled for 7:03 p.m., a Thunderbirds demonstration beginning at 6:25 p.m., a tri-bomber formation at 6:02 p.m. and a stealth aircraft flyover at 7:38 p.m.
Friday’s schedule of flyovers and demonstration rehearsals along the National Mall and Washington Monument
- 10 a.m.: Golden Knights, Leap Frogs
- 10:15 a.m.: Army Helo Flyover
- 10:20 a.m.: USMC V-22 Osprey Demo
- 10:35 a.m.: USMC F-35B STOVL Demo
- 10:50 a.m.: USN F-18F Demo
- 11:10 a.m.: USN F-35C Demo Team
- 11:30 a.m.: USAF F-22 Raptor Demo
- 11:50 a.m.: NASA F-5s
- 12 p.m.: HUGE (1) Formation
- 12:05 p.m.: USAF Thunderbirds
- 12:55 p.m.: USAF Tri-Bomber
Saturday’s schedule of flyovers and demonstration along the National Mall and Washington Monument
- 1:14 p.m.: – NASA F-5 Flyover
- 1:24 p.m.: -NASA Fleet Review
- 1:44 p.m.: USCG Helo Flyover
- 1:54 p.m.: USCG Fixed Wing Flyover
- 2:09 p.m.: Golden Knights, Leap Frogs
- 2:29 p.m.: Army Helo Flyover
- 2:44 p.m.: USAF Fleet Review – Wave 1 – Heavies
- 2:54 p.m.: USAF Fleet Review – Wave 2 – AFSOC
- 3:04 p.m.: USAF Fleet Review – Wave 3 – Fighters
- 3:29 p.m.: Executive Rotary Wing Airlift
- 3:39 p.m.: USMC Fleet Review – Wave 1 – Rotary
- 3:49 p.m.: USMC Fleet Review – Wave 2 – Fixed Wing
- 3:59 p.m.: USN Fleet Review – Wave 1 – Rotary
- 4:09 p.m.: USN Fleet Review – Wave 2 – Fixed Wing
- 4:19 p.m.: USN Fleet Review – Wave 3 – Fighters
- 4:21 p.m.: USN F-18F Demonstration
- 4:59 p.m.: USN Blue Angels
- 5:26 p.m.: USMC MV-22 Osprey Demonstration
- 5:44 p.m.: USAF Fleet Review – Fighters
- 6:02 p.m.: USAF Tri-Bomber Formation
- 6:05 p.m.: USN F-35C Demonstration
- 6:25 p.m.: USAF Thunderbirds Demonstration
- 7:03 p.m.: Air Force One Flyover
- 7:07 p.m.: USAF Thunderbirds Delta Break
- 7:17 p.m.: HUGE 1 Flyover Led by the Newly Renovated Air Force One
- 7:38 p.m.: U.S. Stealth Airpower Flyover
- 7:39 p.m.: F-22 Raptor Demo
- 7:53 p.m.: F-22 Raptor in Afterburner
- 7:59 p.m.: B-1 Flyover
- 8:07 p.m.: B-1’s in Afterburner
- 8:11 p.m.: HUGE ONE Fly Over Review
- 8:22 p.m.: Golden Knights Twilight Jump
- 10:36 p.m.: B-1 Afterburner Night Pass
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An Air Force major was arrested in uniform on the steps of the Capitol after he called for the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
U.S. Capitol Police arrested Jason Watson, an active-duty service member, on Wednesday afternoon following remarks at a news conference where he said Trump and Vice President JD Vance should be removed from office.
The event was organized by the Removal Coalition, a group that lobbies members of Congress to impeach Trump, and attended by Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who has repeatedly introduced articles of impeachment against Trump.
“I’m here with him because Rep. Green is the only member of Congress that has demonstrated the courage and conviction to … force a vote on articles of impeachment,” Watson said at the event. “If Congress followed his example, we could remove the entire Trump administration, but Congress remains unconvinced of the urgency and necessity for them to honor their oaths, so we must persuade them with our unrelenting, uncompromising civil resistance.”
Watson said he is not a Democrat and does not share policy positions with Green, who lost his re-election bid this year. Green’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Watson’s arrest.
Capitol Police said in a statement that it “is generally against the law for the public to demonstrate on the House Steps unless they are with a Member of Congress.”
“Yesterday afternoon, a man was escorted to the House Steps by a Member of Congress,” the statement said. “When the Member of Congress left the area, our officers gave the man lawful orders to stop the illegal demonstration or he would be arrested. The man refused our lawful orders.”
Capitol Police identified the man as Watson, adding that he was arrested on charges of “Crowding, Obstructing, and Incommoding” and that it is legal to protest in other spots on the Capitol grounds.
Service members are subject to stricter laws than the average citizen when it comes to protesting. The Uniform Code of Military Justice prohibits officers from “using contemptuous language towards the President, Vice president, the Secretaries of War and of a military department, Congress, and certain other officials,” according to an Air Force memo last year.
An Air Force spokesperson said in a statement Thursday: “Service members must comply with all laws, regulations and policies governing conduct and the wear of the uniform. All Department of the Air Force personnel are expected to uphold the highest standards of discipline and professionalism, both on and off duty.”
All service members, not just members of the Air Force, are prohibited from participating in “political activities” in uniform.
Watson’s criticism of Trump and Vance focused on the administration’s actions in Venezuela and Iran, calling them “an unconstitutional usurpation of Congress’ authority and a violation of the War Powers Clause.”
“These violations resulted in the deaths of 13 service members and injuries of hundreds more,” he said, referring to the number of U.S. military deaths tied to the Iran war. “For this, the president and vice president must be impeached, convicted and removed.”
Watson also called the administration’s immigration policies and tactics unconstitutional.
The Removal Coalition did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Watson could not be reached.
President Donald Trump responded to criticism of a financial disclosure that listed $1.4 billion in crypto earnings largely driven by meme coins.
Berk Kutay Gökmen
02 July 2026•Update: 02 July 2026
US Defense Secretary Hegseth on Thursday faced protesters while hosting the Trump administration’s DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force ceremony in Washington DC.
During the ceremony at Meridian Hill Park, which saw the gathering of National Guardsmen, dozens of demonstrators gathered near the park to protest Hegseth.
Footage shows the demonstrators chanting a short distance away from where Hegseth and roughly 200 members of the National Guard had gathered in the park
In social media posts, one protester was seen holding a Palestinian flag, while another person was holding a sign that reads “arrest Hegseth.” The protesters want a “Free DC,” according to social media posts.
In his address to the National Guard, Hegseth said that “this background noise is perfect,” referring to the protests.
“It’s the sound of ingrates, of ingratitude—of people who are so blinded by ideology they can’t see law and order and common sense in front of them,” he said.
Meridian Hill Park was repaired by the National Park Service and the Interior Department as part of a larger initiative to restore and enhance federal parks and public spaces throughout the nation’s capital in preparation for America’s 250th anniversary, which falls on this Saturday, July 4.
Though such beautification projects are typically popular with the public, the current initiative has been controversial both for its choice of projects and the use of no-bid contracts to hire firms to do the work, sometimes with disappointing results.
The work aligns with President Donald Trump’s DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force, established by a March 2025 executive order that directs federal agencies to coordinate public safety and beautification efforts across Washington.
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