By Jessica Shambora
As the Obamas moved into the White House, the Bushes headed to Texas. Yesterday’s shift at the top of the government should give at least a little kick to the dismal U.S. housing market.
In the Obamas’ former home, Chicago, prices are down 14% over the past year. And home prices in the Washington, D.C. area? Down 14.3%, according to Move Inc., which runs Realtor.com, the official site of the National Association of Realtors.
It’s remarkable, actually that D.C.’s 2008 median home price – $343,196, $80,000 higher than Chicago’s – has held up as well as it has. Consider that D.C. had the biggest surge in year-over-year home listings: up 70% last year. Granted, the government’s coming expansion – our new president’s federal programs to lift America out of its crises – should fuel home-buying in D.C. But still, the outlook isn’t bright. Last month, Fortune predicted that the median home price there will tumble 20% in 2009. Among 100 regional markets listed on Fortune‘s 2009 Housing Outlook, D.C. ranks near the bottom, 91st. (Click here for a gallery of the predicted 10 worst real-estate markets in the U.S. for 2009.)
Meanwhile, the Bushes, off to Crawford, Texas for a break, have bought a home in the tony Dallas neighborhood of Preston Hollow. They had nearly 4,000 homes to choose from. In fact, Dallas ranked eighth out of 146 metros in the number of new listings in December, according to Move. But this number was actually down 30% from a year earlier – so the Dallas market is not in such sorry shape. Prices fell only 1.2% in Dallas last year. Moody’s Economy.com, as reported in Fortune, expects the Dallas-Irving market to drop a mere 1.2% in 2009.
As for the Bushes’ new residence, 10141 Daria Place, it is a brick, one-story, 8,500-square-foot house on one acre at the end of a cul-de-sac. The home is worth $2.2 million, according to Zillow.com’s estimate. Quite a comedown from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Zillow says that residence is worth some $300 million.