Does Traffic In Washington DC Affect Real Estate?

Does traffic affect real estate in Washington DC, of course it does! We plan our lives around traffic, we look for the best routes to get where we are going, we think about the best times to come and go, we telecommute to beat traffic, we move into the city to beat traffic, and we work late to avoid rush hour. We do anything we can to avoid traffic!

With an influx of people into Washington DC in 2009, traffic is getting worse, and that translates into more people bidding on real estate (to be fair it also means more people seeking rentals since not all people moving to DC are home buyers).

A recent Washington Post article says:

-“There are million and a half regional residents who commute to work every day, each spending an estimated 62 hours a year battling heavy traffic.”

-“Among those employed outside the home, 28 percent have decided to bypass the gridlock by working remotely, and the same amount report that they have moved closer to work to ease their commutes. About four in 10 people who telecommute say they do so at least once a week.”

-One person polled by the Washington Post said, “I was out at Tysons Corner the other day, and it was so bad that I just went to Starbucks and worked on my laptop.”

There also seems to be a lot of confusion as to how to relieve the traffic

More taxes? More roads? More something! In the meantime, until the geniuses that brought us the federal deficit figure out the problem with roads and the traffic, people are desirous to move closer into the city to be closer to work, so close-in Washington DC area real estate seems to have some built-in price supports, thanks to traffic, and thanks to the area’s largest employer, the Federal Government.

Conclusion

And as just about everyone knows, traffic does not seem to have the ability to get better, and the Federal Government never seems to shrink, so it appears close-in Washington DC real estate will have built-in price supports for the foreseeable future.