Dena Levitz, The Examiner
2007-09-12 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

Loudoun County -

The number of housing units steadily increased across the Washington region between 2000 and 2006, with Loudoun County posting a whopping 58 percent growth rate, fifth in the nation, according to Census data being released today.

The District of Columbia as well as jurisdictions in Maryland and parts of Virginia experienced modest gains during the six-year time frame. Yet the increases were nowhere near as dramatic as Loudoun’s jump from 62,160 housing units in 2000 to 98,391 last year.

Jill Landsman, a spokeswoman for the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, said what makes the Virginia county stand out is its combination of a booming population of highly educated, upwardly mobile residents and relatively affordable housing prices.

“Loudoun’s really the new frontier,” Landsman said, adding that professionals living there can easily commute to neighboring counties. “It makes it a very realistic suburb-to-surburb lifestyle.”

In Fairfax — whose residents have the highest median income in the nation — the number of housing units increased from 359,411 in 2000 to 390,684 units six years later, a leap of 9 percent. Increases in Arlington and Prince William counties’ total housing unit numbers were much lower, at 3.6 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively, during the same time frame.

Landsman said that particularly in Arlington, the county’s proximity to the nation’s capital makes it an extremely desirable place to live. However, housing prices remain on the higher end.

Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland also saw noticeable spikes in housing. Montgomery’s unit numbers have increased 7.5 percent and Prince George’s 5 percent in six years.

In D.C., the approximately 8,000 new housing units added between 2000 and 2006 tend to be multifamily rentals because of the city’s lack of vacant land, according to Urban Institute researcher Peter Tatian.

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com