Luxury Leads the Way: Two Sales, One Week, a Market That Still Moves at the Top
The headlines say the market is slow — the top of the market says otherwise
In the past seven days, I closed two luxury sales on either side of the Potomac — one in Kalorama, one in McLean’s Langley Forest. Both under contract in a week. Together, they tell a story worth paying attention to: luxury is still winning.
Kalorama: 2200 Decatur Place NW — $2.7M, full price
In Kalorama, full price is not a rounding error. It’s a signal. Buyers at this level walked through, did the math on replacement cost versus resale, and moved. The embassy corridor doesn’t trade on sentiment. It trades on scarcity, privacy, and the quiet understanding that this block doesn’t come around often.
Langley Forest: 6929 River Oaks Drive — listed $3.5M, sold $3.7M with multiple offers
Langley Forest buyers want land, privacy, and a Virginia tax basis. When the right house hits, they compete for it. This one drew a crowd inside a week and closed $200,000 above list.
What both sales have in common: Speed
Under contract in seven days. Each.
The Washington Post ran a piece this month under the headline “High-end houses still competitive, even as luxury market slips a bit.” The top tier is not slipping. It’s sorting. Well-priced, well-positioned luxury is moving fast. Everything else is sitting.
The DMV numbers tell the broader story — average days on market around 45, inventory up roughly 40% from last year, and the bidding wars of 2024 largely gone. Except where they aren’t. They aren’t gone in Kalorama. They aren’t gone in Langley Forest. They aren’t gone anywhere the inventory is genuinely scarce and the house is genuinely right.
If you’re thinking about selling
The buyers are there. They are qualified, they are decisive, and they are writing.
What they will not do is tolerate a mispriced listing, a tired presentation, or a story that doesn’t hold together on the tour. The margin for error at $3M, $5M, $8M is smaller than it’s been in years. The reward for getting it right is a deal in a week.
If you’re weighing a sale in DC, McLean, or anywhere the luxury buyer is shopping, let’s talk before you list.
Jim Bell is Executive Vice President at TTR Sotheby’s International Realty and publisher of Billion Dollar Broker. Known professionally as The House Whisperer, he has closed more than $1.2 billion in transactions across 30+ years in the DMV market.
Contact Jim directly: JBell@TTRSIR.com (202)607-4000