Trump’s Election Shouldn’t Have Significant Impact on Local Real Estate Market

Heather Curtis
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON – (WMAL) Republican Donald Trump’s election as president will have some effects on the D.C. area real estate market, but nothing major according to a researcher from MRIS.

Data from past years shows elections usually only spur a couple thousand sales annually out of tens of thousands in total according to Andrew Strauch, vice president of marketing for MRIS.

The area that may see some impact is the high end market.

Strauch explained many presidents are already entrenched in Washington politics and pick people they know in the area to serve in their cabinets.

“That doesn’t seem to be the case with Mr. Trump, so there’s a good chance that he will bring a number of folks in from his own Network, and those folks tend to be very high net worth,” Strauch said.

In the past, Capitol Hill saw the biggest effect after elections, but Strauch expects Trump’s cabinet members to spread out to the surrounding suburbs including, Arlington and Bethesda.

Another thing that could impact the housing market would be if Trump boosts spending on defense and contractors, which could bring more people to the area to work for companies like Lockheed Martin.

“If you’re talking tens of thousands of jobs potentially a number of them would be fulfilled from the workforce that’s already here, but I imagine some people would move into the area, which would positively impact the real estate market,” Straunch said.

Trump may also get involved in leases for big government projects like the FBI headquarters.