Amazon’s impact on Arlington and Alexandria continued in December

https://vimeo.com/313066893

McEnearney Associates’ EVP and CIO David Howell

December brought some truly incredible absorption rates in Arlington and Alexandria in the aftermath of Amazon’s HQ2 announcement, while the rest of the region continued to see more typical performance.

Compared to the previous December, contract activity in Alexandria was up 13% in December 2018 and was up 20% in Arlington.  The Amazon announcement created a perfect storm – it fueled demand precisely at a time when inventory is seasonally low. In December 2017, inventory was about 40% lower than it was in September 2017 in both Alexandria and Arlington.  As expected, inventory was already headed down before the Amazon announcement, so when contract activity increased in the last six weeks of the year in Arlington and Alexandria there was already less inventory to fight over.  And since we were then in a time of year where relatively few listings come on the market, buyers were soaking up whatever was there.

Amazon HQ2 announcement affects D.C. area contract activity in November 2018

https://vimeo.com/305823287

Arlington and Alexandria’s real estate certainly got a boost in the immediate aftermath of Amazon’s announcement that they are bringing 25,000 new jobs to Northern Virginia over the next decade. A couple of weeks ago we talked about the Impact of Amazon’s HQ2 move to Northern Virginia and what to expect in the years to come, but today let’s focus on the immediate changes that we’ve noticed in the month of November.

The impact of Amazon’s HQ2 move to Northern Virginia

Image credit McEnearney Associates

A HYPERBOLE-FREE VIEW
It’s official: the Amazons are coming! After 14 months of speculation, the odds-on favorite Crystal City was indeed the winner in the HQ2 sweepstakes, but with a twist. Queens, New York will get half of the planned 50,000 jobs that Amazon says it will create during the next 10 to 12 years. And in this case, getting half the loaf may turn out to be better than getting the whole thing.

UPDATED: Is Amazon coming to the DMV?

Image credit Medium.com

We’ve gathered all the reports with predictions and analyses about the location of Amazon’s HQ2, which is slated to bring 50,000 white collar jobs and $5B in investments. Where do you think the giant will land?