Reference News, July 19 - According to a report by the "Nikkei" on July 16, the re-election of US President Trump is bringing changes to the real estate market in Washington, D.C., and its surrounding areas. With a significant reduction in government staff, the number of homes for sale has increased significantly. On the other hand, sales of high-end properties and apartments priced in the millions of dollars have shown strong performance. The wealthy class may have already begun to settle in the capital area, including business executives seeking closer ties with the Trump administration.

Since the start of the second Trump administration this January, the number of house listings in the entire Washington D.C. area, including Maryland and Virginia, has increased significantly. According to data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), as of September 2024, there were approximately 2.3 million federal government employees, of which 450,000 worked in Washington D.C. However, with a large number of public officials being laid off, the real estate market is undergoing unusual changes.

The Trump administration announced significant reductions in government staff and the dissolution of some departments, leading over 70,000 federal employees to choose early retirement. As a result, the number of people selling houses in the Washington area has increased. According to Redfin, an online real estate intermediary platform, the number of housing listings in Washington D.C. increased by 25.1% year-on-year in April, reaching a historical high. This increase far exceeded the national average growth of 14.2%.

A survey conducted by Bright MLS, a real estate services company, in May among real estate agents active in Washington D.C. showed that 43% of respondents said "the number of available homes for sale has increased due to federal government layoffs," and 38% said "home prices have dropped due to layoffs."

Lisa Stettner, chief economist at the company, said: "Many experienced and high-income individuals took advantage of this early retirement opportunity to sell their properties and move out of Washington." As mentioned earlier, the number of housing listings in the Washington metropolitan area has increased significantly, while the median home price in May reached $659,950, setting a new record high. According to Bright MLS statistics, 87 properties worth more than $5 million were sold in 2024, reaching a peak in over a decade. In just two months, November and December, the number of homes sold was 20, twice the level of the same period the previous year. This situation may have been triggered by Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election in November 2024.

According to Axios, a U.S. emerging media outlet, a real estate agent with over 20 years of experience in high-end property transactions in Virginia said in an interview: "The number of buyers purchasing properties purely for commercial purposes, without personal connections to Washington, is unprecedented." Among high-end residential buyers, there are also billionaires with net worth exceeding $1 billion who have entered the second Trump administration.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Rutenberg paid cash for a $25 million mansion in the northwest of Washington in December 2024 before taking office, setting a record for the highest sale price of a property within the city of Washington. U.S. Treasury Secretary Bensont also purchased a historic home in Georgetown in January this year, valued at $12.5 million.

Entrepreneurs seeking to establish connections with the Trump administration have also joined the ranks of homebuyers. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of the U.S. metaverse platform company, purchased a mansion in the northwest of Washington in March for $23 million in cash, which was described by Politico as a "private embassy."

While U.S. government employees are moving out of Washington due to layoffs, the wealthy are actively relocating to Washington, creating two distinct trends. The "Trump effect" is profoundly changing the real estate market landscape in the capital region. (Translated by Ma Xiaoyun)

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7528784908396053043/

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