As President Donald Trump settles back into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., the slew of cabinet members, Congress members and staffers who aim to be part of his administration have begun looking to join the neighborhood.
Their effect on the DMV — the District, Maryland and Virginia — is likely to be mixed. While some top administration figures, like commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick, the chief executive of investment giant Cantor Fitzgerald, have already inked blockbuster deals for new homes, others are likely to rent or seek more modest accommodations.
“Historically, it’s not a big change,” to the overall market, said Jennifer Touchette, an agent with the Your P&rtners team at Compass. “We get this question all the time: ‘Is there a high or a low or a rhythm to it?’ And we really don’t see that.”
It's a different story for the ultraluxury housing market.
“Ten million-plus listings have always certainly existed in D.C., Maryland and Virginia,” Daniel Heider, executive vice president and agent at TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, said in an interview. “The biggest change right now is the volume and the condensed time period they've recently sold in.”
Steady home sales
Typically, there are two main limiting factors when it comes to changes in the housing market during a presidential administration change in the DMV, agents said.
For one, many of the people in an outgoing administration tend to remain in the Washington, D.C. area, according to Touchette, who has worked the D.C.-area housing market for the last four inaugurations. After all, many can find employment with the multitude of law and lobby firms, public relations outfits, contractors and associations that make up the D.C. economy.
“Folks who were employed with the previous administration in some capacity, they may be pivoting,” she said. “But they may not be going anywhere. They might just get another job.”
Data from Homes.com reflects that experience. During the months of January and February of 2017 and 2021—the last two years when administrations changed—home sales in the DMV area showed no great spike, aside from fluctuations during the disruptive COVID-19 pandemic.
Just a few weeks into 2025 and that pattern seems to be holding.
Agent Robert Hryniewicki of HRL Partners at Washington Fine Properties said in his 25 years working in the D.C. housing market, he’s noticed a similar trend.
“Once people get a foothold here, we have found a lot of times they never leave,” he said in an interview.
At the same time, many congressional and White House staffers don’t own houses, they rent, according to Touchette. That means, even if those people do leave D.C., there’s little change to the for-sale market.
Luxury tells a different story
But the luxury market since the election has bucked that trend.
Since Nov. 5, the day of the election, 45 houses priced at $5 million or more have been listed in the DMV area, according to Homes.com data. And 10 of those 45 listings have been priced at $10 million or more.
During that same time, roughly 25 homes listed for $5 million-plus have sold, Homes.com data showed. Of those, seven sold for $10 million or more.
Some of those sales have already been connected to Trump’s administration. Lutnick, the commerce secretary nominee, paid $25 million in cash for his new home in D.C.'s Foxhall neighborhood, according to media reports.
David Sacks, the Paypal cofounder Trump appointed as his “White House A.I. & crypto czar” in a social media post, purchased a $10.3 million penthouse in Northwest D.C., as Axios first reported.
Heider, the TTR Sotheby’s International Realty agent, deemed this immediate effect “the Trump bump", though he did not comment on any specific transactions.
“Not only are we dealing with a change of administration that includes some of the most successful folks that are coming into Washington ever, but folks who are ultra-high-net worth," Heider said. "I believe they’re looking down the line, looking at more pro-business policy and probably some tax reform."
And he said, "They’re predicting better economic times ahead of them and they’re acting on it.”
Touchette, the Compass agent, said she’s noticed that mentality among some of her luxury listings, too, referencing a downtown D.C. rental unit that leased for $17,000 per month “rather quickly.”
Ongoing strength
A pickup in sales also could come as more cabinet members are confirmed or find that they need a property in the D.C. area, according to Hryniewicki.
“You don’t want to lock in a residential sales contract not knowing that you’re going to be confirmed,” he said. Though the full reach of that trend is unknowable, Hryniewicki said that in 2016 and 2017, following Trump’s last election, there was a similar influx of wealth.
At the same time, current data about the housing market does not account for activity in the private market involving homes not listed on the public multiple listing service that agents use to market their properties. Though there are a variety of reasons to list off-market, some home sellers, especially celebrities or high-profile individuals like those joining Trump’s administration, might want to shield their offerings from prying eyes.
Heider said the private market has seen significant movement recently. “If you look at the stats for what’s selling right now, it’s quite a volume of upper-bracket market,” he said.
Sales agreed to in off-market deals are made public once they go under contract. So, it could be weeks or months before some of those sales become known.
All told, real estate agents said they foresee the luxury market’s strength to persist, especially as buyers are emboldened by what they anticipate will be business-positive policies from the Trump administration.
“I do anticipate this continuing just given, again, the shift in the way I think businesspeople are thinking about the policy that’s very quickly changing,” Heider said. “These folks feel as though, economically, they’re going to do quite well.”