District Assessments: Cityline at Tenley

Recently I was looking at District records for a condo I was interested in. The owner has listed it for sale at $759,000, a mere $17,000 more than he paid in 2005 [basically, he's selling it at a loss when his sales costs are considered]. However, what caught my attention is the District's real property assessment for the condo.

According to the District's database, the property's current full value [before the homestead exemption is applied] is $662,570 and its proposed new value for 2009 is $581,050.

• For 2008, the District values the condo at 10.7% less than its original purchase price;
• It projects a further 12.3% reduction in value during the next year; and
• As far as the District is concerned, the condo has lost 21.7% of its value in three years.

But this is simply one condo in a building of three condos. Is there a trend? What is the District projecting for other, larger buildings? Well, I decided to revisit an old friend, Cityline at Tenley [you may recall my post about the building], to find out. I compared sales data for the building against the District's real property assessment database. I found that of the 188 units that have sold, the assessed value of 68 has increased while that for 120 units has fallen. In other words, the District values 120 units at less than their last sales price, and some by a substantial percentage.

Interestingly, an unscientific sampling shows that no unit with two bedrooms has an assessed value higher than its last sales price. Why? I don't know.

For each unit sold in Cityline, the table below lists the District's 2009 proposed assessment value compared to its last sales price. Use the scroll bar on the right to browse the table.

One may not agree with the District's real property assessment methods and one can argue that the District's proposed assessed value is not really an accurate reflection of market value, but it's important to note that the District is preparing for a large drop in property values since the property taxes that flow as a consequence of these assessments obviously affect the funds available to operate the District in 2009.

2006 Condo Sales: Cityline at Tenley

Cityline at Tenley isn't too far from my home; I've been watching it since I moved into the area a few years ago. Architecturally, it's a striking building, warranting an article in the Washington Post in September 2005. I remember when it used to be a Sears store with parking on the roof, so the building's transformation into a condo/retail space was quite amazing to see when we returned to DC in 2004. What's especially interesting to see is the impact of the new retail space on the neighborhood: Best Buy, the Container Store, and the new Ace Hardware store, plus the renovated Whole Foods across the street, have added a lot of 'buzz' to the neighborhood. Or maybe it's the Starbucks and all those earnest, young AU kids hanging out there with their laptops [the stylish iBooks/Powerbooks and the brickish Dells]. Who knows.

Cityline has 204 units, which began closing in June/July 2005. What struck me at the time was that although almost 170 units had closed by December 2005, most of the units facing Wisconsin Ave were dark. It probably has one of the highest flips ratios of the buildings I've been tracking in my database. Of the 204 units, 20 have been flipped since the building was completed.

According to the District's real property assessment database, 16 units have not been sold. Currently, unit #620 is for sale at $689,900 [DC6306994]. Three units are advertised on craigslist for rent, with a 1 bedroom unit offered at $1700/month and two 1 BR/dens [here and here] offered at $2300 each.

Cityline at Tenley 4101 Albemarle NW, DC, 20016

Sales in 2006:

Information on individual sales can be found at DCCondoPrices.com.

Fifteen units were flipped in 2006:

Five units were flipped in 2005, one of which was unit #621 [a $900 loss].