Washington City Paper: Contents for Feb. 10

Just Reduced
Saying goodbye to D.C.'s real-estate bubble

Cover Story

I Wouldn’t Want to Speculate

No one agrees on what caused the boom or when it started or stopped.

Here’s the sort of difference a year makes: On Nov. 20, 1998, the property at 1731 P St. NW, a little more than a block from Dupont Circle, sold for $595,000. On Nov. 22, 1999, it sold again—this time for $800,000.

The 1731 P flip suggested that something was changing in a neighborhood that had been known just a few years earlier for the broken auto glass that smash-and-grab perps often left on the sidewalks. Was this the first sale of the boom? Should the D.C. Chamber of Commerce place a plaque at 1731 P, commemorating it as the point of departure for the bonanza that fattened real-estate agents and work-averse speculators?

It doesn’t quite work that way. Depending on which real-estate agent or economist you talk to, the boom’s kickoff started as early as 1997 or as late as 2002. Cathie Gill, who runs an eponymous real-estate agency, says the madness didn’t really start until the end of that span. In 2002, says Gill, “We’d get multiple offers, people calling, saying, ‘Please get me a home.’ We’d bring on a house at $595,000 and sell it at $750,000 in 72 hours.”

Nor do experts agree on the causes of the boom. Oft-quoted economist Stephen Fuller, a professor at George Mason University, suggests that hard times fueled the run-up. “The recession that began in early 2000 gave people no other alternative financial investments aside from housing,” he says. “People didn’t trust the stock market or 401(k)s. That touched off the investment dimension of housing.”... Continued

Issue of Feb. 10 - 16, 2006

News and Features

Just Reduced
Saying goodbye to D.C.'s real-estate bubble
Cover Story By Brian Beutler
Big Problems
Comic-book shops' rivalry gets litigious.
The City By David Dunlap Jr.
Cafe Recess
The City By Rachel Beckman
Pizza Napoli's Flying Chicken
The City By Rachel Beckman
Price Pick of the Week
Seller's Market By Brian Beutler
Fabrangen Havurah
The City By Aaron Leitko
Old Barry, New Barry
The Mail By Pat Morris
Beads of Fury
The Mail By Rev. James Goodwin
Hello, Doctuh
The Mail By Dr. Demento
You Go, Gail!
The Mail By Bill Baker
Scooper Neighbors
The Mail By Jenny Bignell
Scooper Neighbors
The Mail By Steve Thompson
Ticked Talk
The Mail By Dr. Robert Hellman
Ticked Talk
The Mail By Cory Nightengale
Correction
Correction
Correction
Correction
Correction
Correction

Columns

PACMAN
Loose Lips By James Jones
Rites of Offspring
At Redskins Park, the son also coaches.
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
Fire and Rain
City Desk By Arthur Delaney
Trashy Romance
City Desk By Huan Hsu
Savage Love
Savage Love By Dan Savage
Channel Serf
Television By Mario Correa

Eats

Flights of Fancy
100 King's upstairs-downstairs divide
Young & Hungry By JW Stubbs

Movies

Bushy Tales
Film Review By Mark Jenkins
Charm Shitty
Film Review By Tricia Olszewski
The Pink Panther
Directed by Shawn Levy
Film Reviews By Louis Bayard
Curious George
Directed by Matthew O'Callaghan
Film Reviews By Louis Bayard

Music

Time and Motian
Music Review By Brent Burton
Hypocrisy in the Genius Room
Rob Getzschman
Music By Ben Westhoff

Theater

We'll Come to the Jungle
Theater Review By Bob Mondello
Female Trouble
Theater Review By Trey Graham

Arts and Events

Stars (and Bars) on 45
The Washington City Paper's guide to our flag-waving-est "local" record labels
Arts By Rachel Beckman
Curtains
Artifacts By Trey Graham
Pride of Plates
Artifacts By Ryan Grim
Culture Vultures
What does it take to get an arts grant from the D.C. government?
Culture Vultures By Rachel Beckman
Read My Hips: The Sexy Art of Flirtation
The Sexy Art of Flirtation
Book Reviews By Mike Keefe-Feldman
The Idler Book of Crap Jobs:
100 Tales of Workplace Hell
Book Reviews By Dave Nuttycombe