Alexandria condos see assessment increase and outpace single family homes in sales

Vernon Miles February 8, 2022 at 10:10am

While only in the conceptual phase, the Landmark Overlook development would transform the corner of South Wilkes Street and Stephenson Avenue into a mixed use property with hotels or office buildings, two-level stacked condominium units, apartments and retail. (Image via City of Alexandria)

Alexandria’s residential property assessments are climbing this year and, for the first time in years, that includes a significant increase for condos.

Mayor Justin Wilson, in a virtual town hall last Thursday, said the assessed property value increase comes after years of that being essentially stagnant.

“Our condos saw an increase of 2.81%,” Wilson said. “Condos have been flat for a long time, so seeing growth in condos is very good.”

Condo values have been gradually increasing since around 2010, but not at the same rate as single-family home values.

“About 65% of condos saw an increase,” Wilson said, “so 2/3 of condo owners will see an assessment increase.”

A staff report also said that there was an overall decrease in the median sale price of residential properties over the last year. The report attributes this to an increase in condo sales, which go for lower rates than single-family homes.

“From 2020 to 2021, there was a decrease in the median sale price of residential properties in the City of Alexandria from $608,000 to $588,750 (between 2019 and 2020, the median rose from $517,250 to $608,000),” the report said. “This is attributable to a greater number of condominium properties in the sales sample compared to the previous year… In 2021, there was an 11.20% increase in the volume of single-family property sales and a 19.91% increase in condominium sales.”

The assessments are being presented to the City Council at a meeting tonight (Thursday). Assessments are the first stage of an ongoing budget process that will run throughout the spring.