D.C.-Area Median Housing Prices Reach 2005 Records

WASHINGTON -- Median home prices in and around the nation's capital this summer have reached their record high set during the housing boom of the mid-2000s. The Examiner reports on new data that show that the price of buying a home in the District of Columbia and two Virginia jurisdictions have surpassed highs set in 2005:

Prices in the region's core -- D.C., Arlington and Alexandria -- all topped highs set by the housing boom in the 2000s. Median home sales in the District reached $457,500 in July, beating the previous high of $450,000 in November 2005. Arlington prices soared to $550,000 last month, beating the median $525,000 set six years earlier, and Alexandria surpassed its former high when prices reached $500,000 this May.

Other jurisdictions in Virginia and Maryland, like Fairfax and Montgomery counties, are approaching their 2005 records, with Prince William and Prince George's counties still lagging.

Do these high prices suggest a boom or bubble? Not quite. According to the Examiner, the current record prices have more to do with low availability of homes on the market, higher demand to buy and fewer foreclosure properties for sale.

But even with federal budget sequestration looming large over the D.C. region -- especially in Virginia -- the president and CEO of a local real estate consulting firm, Jonathan Miller, told the Examiner that high prices are forecasted to continue to increase.

In a region full of million-dollar homes, where are the bargains? Prince George's County, where, according to The Washington Post, the recovery took longer in part due to the county's glut of foreclosure properties.

Take a look at some of the most expensive homes on the market in the D.C. area ...