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ALEXANDRIA, vIRGINIA
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REAL ESTATE
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more information, contact us at
202-965-3715.
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In 2009, 961 single
family homes sold in Alexandria for an average sale
price of $577,980. The average list price was $595,356.
This represents a 2% increase
in the number of sales and a 6% decrease in the average
sale price from 2008. Homes were on the market in 2009
for an average of 63 days. By the end of 2009, there
were 155 single-family homes on the market and 85 houses
under contract.
The average sale price for single-family homes
in 2008 in Alexandria was $616,030.
This compares to $657,737 and $667,172 in 2007 and 2006,
respectively. The average list price was $636,804 in
2008, $675,930 in 2007, and $681,260 in 2006.
Listed below are the sales of
single-family homes by price range for the past four
years.
|
Single-Family Homes |
2009
|
2008
|
2007 |
2006
|
|
Below $500,000 |
396 |
380 |
329 |
364 |
|
$500,000-$999,999 |
509 |
500 |
741 |
754 |
|
$1,000,000-1,499,999 |
46 |
45 |
71 |
82 |
|
$1,500,000-$1,999,999 |
8 |
11 |
16 |
19 |
|
$2,000,000-$2,499,999 |
1 |
5 |
9 |
6 |
|
$2,500,000-$2,999,999 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
$3,000,000$3,999,999 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
$4,000,000-$4,999,999 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
$5.000,000-$5,999,999 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Total |
961 |
946 |
1169 |
1229 |
Historic preservation of Alexandria, VA, was in
earnest in the 1960s. Historic Old Town has grand brick
Georgians, Federals, and Victorians along with more
modest brick or clapboard housing dating back to its
founding. In addition to smaller townhouse
communities that have been developed in the historic
district of Old Town, townhouses and condominiums have
sprung up on its immediate
outskirts.
In 2009, 103 single-family
homes sold in Old Town for an average sale price of
$745,066. The average list price was $777,399. The
average sale price in 2009 represents a 36% increase in
the number of sales and a 17% decrease in the average
sale price from 2008. Homes were on the market in 2009
for an average of 87 days. By the end of 2009, there
were 47 single-family homes on the market and 5 houses
were under contract.
The average sale price of single-family homes in 2008 in
Old Town was $901,644.
This
compares to $762,354 and $810,935 in 2007 and 2006,
respectively. The average list price was $937,291 in
2008, $793,518 in 2007, and $839,361 in 2006.
Listed below are the sales of
single-family homes by price range for the past four
years.
|
Single-Family Homes |
2009 |
2008
|
2007 |
2006
|
|
Below $500,000 |
17 |
17 |
22 |
18 |
|
$500,000-$999,999 |
71 |
44 |
109 |
107 |
|
$1,000,000-1,499,999 |
11 |
8 |
14 |
15 |
|
$1,500,000-$1,999,999 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
6 |
|
$2,000,000-$2,499,999 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
|
$2,500,000-$2,999,999 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
$3,000,000-$3,999,999 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
$4,000,000-$4,999,999 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
$5,000,000-$5,999,999 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Total |
103 |
76 |
154 |
149 |
In
2009, 997 condo and
coop units sold in Alexandria for an average sale price
of $288,966 and an average list price of $297,148. This
represents a
14% increase in the number of sales and a 7%
decrease in the average sale price from 2008. The
condo and coop units were on the market for an average
of 72 days. By the end of 2009, there were 190 condos
and coops on the market and 151 under contract.
The average
sales price was $310,049 in 2008, $338,011 in 2007, and
$353,269 in 2006.
Listed below are the sales of condos and coops by price range for the past
four years.
|
Condominiums/Coops |
2009 |
2008
|
2007 |
2006
|
|
Below $500,000 |
914 |
792 |
1003 |
1160 |
|
$500,000-$999,999 |
79 |
79 |
96 |
134 |
|
$1,000,000-1,499,999 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
10 |
|
$1,500,000-$1,999,999 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
$2,000,000-$2,499,999 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
$2,500,000-$2,999,999 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
$3,000,000+ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
TOTAL |
997 |
874 |
1103 |
1306 |
Old Town is just one of many fine communities in
Alexandria. Eisenhower Avenue has some of the city's newest
condominium complexes, while Potomac Yards to the North
will feature townhouses. Rosemont, a former trolley
community about a mile from Old Town, consists of
bungalows, Tudors, Cape Cods, Colonials, farmhouses, and
Arts and Crafts homes most built in the 1900s. Beverly
Hills, near I-395, has rolling hills, beautiful mature
trees and azaleas, and some of the largest homes in
Alexandria. Most of the Colonials and Cape Cods were
built from 1930 to 1940. Nearby Clover-College Park are
brick Colonials, Cape Cods, ramblers, and split-levels.
Del Ray is famous for its bungalows. North Ridge and
Seminary Hill are just as famous for the "classy
Colonials" as they were described by Washingtonian in
2006. The west end has numerous townhouse communities
and condos.
HIGHLIGHTS
Alexandria, VA, lies six miles south of
the nation's capitol and nine miles north of Mount
Vernon, George Washington's home. The city covers 15.75
miles, and its population reaches around 129,000.
Alexandria is among the top 20 jurisdictions with the
highest median incomes in the country.
Alexandria has more historic attractions than any other
Washington suburb. Its current city hall building was
designed by Adolph Hess, one of Washington's most famous
architects. The Ramsay House serves as the visitors'
center. Other attractions include Gadsby's Tavern,
Robert E. Lee's boyhood home, the Friendship Firehouse
built in 1774, George Washington Masonic National
Memorial, Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site, The Lyceum
(Alexandria's History Museum), the Carlyle House,
Alexandria National Cemetery, Alexandria Black History
Museum, the Athenaeum, Alexandria Archaeology
Museum, the Alexandria Seaport Foundation's Seaport
Center, and the US Patent & Trademark Office Museum. A
famous statue of the Confederate soldier and the slave
pens that were once owned by the largest slave trading
company in the South can also be found in Alexandria.
Alexandria isn't just history and sites, it's a city of
neighborhoods. Old Town on the waterfront has always
been one of the area's prime places to live. The
shopping and restaurants only continue to improve. Not
only does Old Town have some of the most exclusive shops
and boutiques in the region, but it also has several
major chains and four supermarkets. While the name Old
Town generally refers to sections from the waterfront to
the Masonic Temple and the power plant to the Wilson
Bridge, with the area east of Washington Street the
premiere segment, new construction has extended Old
Town's borders toward the airport and to the west. The
waterfront has a marina, restaurants, and parks and a
bike path that runs north into Washington and south to
Mount Vernon. Del Ray, which was founded in 1894, is
described as cozy, eclectic, funky, artsy, and "where
main street still exists." It has a cluster of shops,
most family-owned, along Mount Vernon Avenue. Del Ray
was ranked by Cottage Living magazine in 2006 as seventh
of the top 10 cottage communities in the country. Arlandria
is a small neighborhood north of Del Ray with small
shops and restaurants. Eisenhower Valley, once
warehouses and industrial complexes along the old
railroad tracks, has become the high-rise condominium
focus of Alexandria. The US Patent and Trade Office
moved there in 2005. The Hoffman Town Center in
Eisenhower Valley offers restaurants and a 22-screen
theater. The Cameron Run Regional Park with miniature
golf, batting areas, waterslides, and a wave pool is
nearby. The west end of the city has easy access to
I-395 and the beltway and is home to the Landmark Center
shopping mall. Beverly Hills, Braddock Heights, and
Jefferson Park, all near George Mason Elementary were
identified by the 2005 Washingtonian as family-oriented
neighborhoods. Beverly Hills, Rosemont, Clover-College
Park, and Del Ray were described in 2006 by
Washingtonian as communities of "architectural diversity
and sense of community."
The amenities in Alexandria seem boundless. The city
offers 944 acres of park land, 59 boat slips at the
marina, 52 multi-use athletic fields, 45 playgrounds, 39
tennis courts, 29 basketball/multipurpose courts, 20
miles of trails, 19 dog parks, 14 picnic shelters, and
four mini pools and two large pools. There are six
recreation centers which offer a range of activities to
residents from gymnasiums and game rooms to dance
classes, arts studios, and photo labs. The Chinquapin
Park Recreation Center offers a 25-meter indoor pool,
nature trail and park, saunas, lighted tennis courts,
racquetball courts, and much more. The Alexandria
Farmers Market is year-round on Saturdays at Market
Square and the Del Ray Farmers Market runs on Saturdays
from mid April until December. The Alexandria Symphony
performs summer concerts at Market Square. The city has
several theatre companies, including the Little Theatre
of Alexandria. Three parades are celebrated in Old Town
-- the Scottish Christmas parade, George Washington's
Birthday parade, and St. Patrick's parade. Belle Haven
Country Club is just south of Old Town.
The public school system has 13 elementary schools,
running through grade five. Minnie Howard School
instructs sixth graders. The middle schools covering
seventh through ninth grades are George Washington and
Hammond. Alexandria's high school, TC Williams, was
featured in the hit movie, "Remember the Titans." There
is also a Second Training and Education high school. The
private schools include the three campuses of St.
Stephen's and St. Agnes School. Bishop Ireton High
School, Thornton Friends School, and Episcopal are the
private high schools in the city. St. Mary's, Blessed
Sacrament, Grace Episcopal, Immanuel Lutheran, St.
Clements Episcopal, St. Rita's Catholic, Alexandria
Country Day as well as nearby Browne Academy and
Burgundy Farm are private elementary schools. Among the
private nursery schools are Aquinas Montessori, Heritage
Academy and Children's Center, and Old Town
Montessori.
Dash, the Alexandria bus service, connects all local bus
systems and Metrobus, Metrorail, and the Virginia
Railway Express. The Metro stations in Alexandria are
Braddock Road, King Street, Eisenhower, and nearby
Huntington.
HISTORY
Alexandria, Virginia, was included in a land grant of 6,000 acres
given in 1669 by Sir William Berkeley, Governor of
Virginia, to Robert Howsing, an English sea captain. In
less than a month, Captain Howsing sold the land for
6,000 pounds of tobacco to John Alexander, a Scotsman.
By the early 18th Century, the area became a center for
the export of tobacco. Hugh West built tobacco
warehouses two miles south of Hunting Creek. In 1748
several Scottish and English landholders and merchants,
including William Ramsay and John Carlyle, successfully
petitioned the Virginia General Assembly to establish a
town near West's Hunting Creek (also called Belle Haven)
warehouse. A few months later, in the spring of 1749,
the town of Alexandria, named after the original owner,
was established.
Fairfax County surveyor, John West, and a young George
Washington, laid out 60 acres in today's Old Town area,
and lots were auctioned off in 1749. In 1755, British
General Edward Braddock met at the Carlyle House with
five royal governors of the colonies to discuss funding
the British military campaigns in the French and Indian
War. Their decision to recommend a tax on all the
colonies became the first colonial tax. The succeeding
taxes on the colonies led George Washington, George
Mason and other local Alexandrians to meet in the local
court house in 1774 where the Fairfax Resolves were
adopted calling for an end to trade with England. The
Revolutionary War began the next year.
George Washington was as significant to Alexandria as he
was to his country. In his first military command in the
French and Indian War, he recruited his troops in
Alexandria. He had a clapboard house in town that he
used as an office, was a town trustee, purchased a pew
in Christ Church, and served as a worshipful master at
the Alexandria mason lodge. He also raced his horses in
town and served as steward of the Alexandria Jockey
Club.
By 1779, Alexandria was incorporated. As a major port,
it served foreign and domestic vessels, exporting
tobacco, flour and hemp. Ten years later, the city and
part of Fairfax County (today's Arlington) were ceded by
Virginia to become the southwest corner of the 10-mile
square District of Columbia. It was formally accepted by
Congress in 1801 but was retroceded to Virginia by 1847.
Alexandria acquired city status in 1852.
Before the Civil War, Alexandria was a slave trading
location. In fact, Market Square was at one time the
second-largest slave market in the country. The city,
however, had a number of free black communities. During
the Civil War, Alexandria was occupied by Union forces
and was a logistical supply center for the military. It
was also one of the largest Union hospital centers in
the East. Several forts were constructed in Alexandria
to defend the District, included Fort Ward. During the
war, two-thirds of the population fled. The city was
under Union control throughout the war, making it the
longest occupied territory of the Civil War. From 1863
through 1865, Alexandria was the capital of the Restored
Government of Virginia.
During World War I, the Torpedo Factory was built as a
munitions factory. It was also used in World War II.
Until the 1970s, its ten industrial buildings dominated
the waterfront.
ADJACENT NEIGHBORHOODS
|
North |
ARLINGTON |
|
East |
Potomac River |
|
South |
Fairfax County |
|
West |
Fairfax County |
NEIGHBORHOOD LINKS
Map of Alexandria
To discover more
about current listings
and recent home sales in alexandria, va, and
the washington dc real estate market:
Call or e-mail us at
202-965-3715
info@hananhomes.com
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