Victorian houses with gingerbread porches in the Takoma neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

DC market data

The DC renovation premium

What finished work is actually worth, neighborhood by neighborhood — a 66% gap citywide, and far wider in some places than others.

Renovated
$813
1,197 sales
Dated or needs work
$489
2,015 sales
The gap
+66%
$324 more per square foot

That gap is the number a fixer-upper turns on. It is what the market has paid for finished work in a given neighborhood — and therefore roughly what a renovation has to come in under to make sense. It is not a return, and it is not the same everywhere: across DC neighborhoods it runs from +31% to +83%.

+17%
+83%renovated premium

Hover for the key figures. Select a neighborhood on the map, or from the table below.

Capitol Hill & Lincoln Park

Neighborhood guide
Median price
$1.2M
746 sales
Median $/sq ft
$771
746 with recorded size
Renovated premium
+40%
$255 more per sq ft

By condition

Renovated$899/sq ft
102 sales · median $1.5M

A remodel recorded with the city in the last 10 years, and the assessor rates the structure Excellent or Very Good.

Standard$786/sq ft
478 sales · median $1.2M

Sound condition, with no recent remodel on record.

Dated or needs work$644/sq ft
166 sales · median $900K

The assessor rates the structure Average, Fair or Poor.

What’s built here

  • Row Inside72%
  • Row End19%
  • Semi-Detached5%
  • Single2%
  • Multi2%
DC neighborhoods, sortable by median price, price per square foot, renovation premium and sale count
Mayfair & Hillbrook$400K$347+83%67
Deanwood & Lincoln Heights$420K$349+79%196
Marshall Heights & Capitol View$438K$379+77%270
Douglass & Shipley Terrace$405K$331+77%78
Congress Heights & Washington Highlands$435K$326+77%256
Shaw & Logan Circle$1.3M$705+72%143
Dupont Circle$1.9M$868+71%139
Adams Morgan & Kalorama$2.2M$815+71%112
Trinidad & Ivy City$700K$477+68%222
Randle Highlands & Fairlawn$470K$384+65%231
Columbia Heights & Mount Pleasant$1.1M$635+57%413
Bloomingdale & Eckington$932K$611+55%502
Cleveland Park & Woodley Park$2.1M$894+51%186
Petworth & Brightwood Park$900K$581+51%680
Kingman Park & Stanton Park$970K$678+50%693
River Terrace & Benning$425K$391+45%124
Woodridge & Fort Lincoln$715K$441+43%133
Capitol Hill & Lincoln Park$1.2M$771+40%746
Fort Totten & Riggs Park$600K$499+39%238
LeDroit Park & Howard University$1.1M$718+37%160
Takoma & Brightwood$750K$523+37%328
Van Ness & Forest Hills$1.9M$763+35%102
Brookland & Langdon$870K$546+35%225
Chevy Chase DC & Barnaby Woods$1.5M$734+34%416
Historic Anacostia$488K$345+34%54
Georgetown & Burleith$2.0M$1,097+33%410
Glover Park & Cathedral Heights$1.4M$859+31%165
Michigan Park & University Heights$637K$508+31%234
Tenleytown & AU Park$1.5M$794+25%320
Palisades & Spring Valley$2.1M$774+21%429
Shepherd Park & Colonial Village$1.3M$591+17%95
Foggy Bottom & West End$1.3M$939—38
Navy Yard & Near Southeast$1.1M$689—40
Southwest Waterfront$1.1M$625—47
Downtown & Penn Quarter$850K$555—19
Walter Reed$973K$548—35
St. Elizabeths$586K$493—28
Hillcrest & Fairfax Village$633K$377—59
Eastland Gardens & Kenilworth$485K$353—15
Garfield Heights & Fort Stanton$450K$350—35
Barry Farm & Sheridan$550K$349—76

Widest and narrowest

Where the market pays most for finished work, and where it barely pays at all.

Widest gaps

  • Mayfair & Hillbrook+83%$229/sq ft
  • Deanwood & Lincoln Heights+79%$224/sq ft
  • Congress Heights & Washington Highlands+77%$173/sq ft
  • Douglass & Shipley Terrace+77%$222/sq ft
  • Marshall Heights & Capitol View+77%$232/sq ft
  • Shaw & Logan Circle+72%$394/sq ft
  • Adams Morgan & Kalorama+71%$430/sq ft
  • Dupont Circle+71%$468/sq ft

Narrowest gaps

  • Shepherd Park & Colonial Village+17%$91/sq ft
  • Palisades & Spring Valley+21%$152/sq ft
  • Tenleytown & AU Park+25%$177/sq ft
  • Michigan Park & University Heights+31%$136/sq ft
  • Glover Park & Cathedral Heights+31%$233/sq ft

There is a straightforward reading. Upper Northwest is largely detached houses on generous lots, where land does most of the pricing work and buyers often expect to renovate to their own taste anyway. The rowhouse belt and the neighborhoods east of the river have more uniform housing stock, so the condition of the house itself is a larger share of what separates one sale from the next.

Common questions

How much more is a renovated house worth in DC?
Citywide, houses the assessor rates as recently renovated sold for a median of $813 per square foot over the last 3 years, against $489 for houses rated dated, fair or poor — a difference of about $324 per square foot, or 66%. The gap varies widely by neighborhood, from roughly 17% to 83%.
Where is the renovation premium largest in DC?
In percentage terms it is largest where entry prices are lowest and in the dense rowhouse belt — Mayfair, Deanwood, Congress Heights, Marshall Heights, Shaw and Dupont Circle all show premiums above 70%. It is smallest in upper Northwest, where Shepherd Park, Palisades and Tenleytown sit between 17% and 25%. Detached-house markets on larger lots price more on land and less on the condition of the structure.
Does that mean I make money renovating a DC house?
No. The premium is what the market has paid for finished houses, not a return. It is the ceiling your renovation budget has to fit under — including permits, carrying costs, and the contingency for what you find once the walls are open. Plenty of renovations cost more than the gap they close.
How is “renovated” defined here?
A house counts as renovated when the District has a remodel recorded within the last 10 years and the assessor rates the structure Excellent or Very Good. Both conditions are required: DC assessors use “Very Good” for an ordinary well-kept house, so condition alone would label about two-thirds of the city renovated. “Dated or needs work” means a condition rating of Average, Fair or Poor.
Does this cover condos?
No. DC's condominium assessment records carry no condition rating, and recorded remodel years barely move condo prices because interior renovations rarely reach the record. Showing a condo renovation premium would imply a precision the data does not support. The price-per-square-foot tool covers condos by bedroom count instead.

Looking at a house that needs work?

The gap tells you what the market pays for finished work. Whether a specific project pencils depends on the scope, the historic district, and how the renovation is financed — which is a conversation worth having before the offer deadline.

Talk to usHow the renovation math works

How this was built

Figures come from the District of Columbia’s property assessment and sales records, published through Open Data DC by the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. Data current through 2026-08-12; generated 2026-08-21. Only qualified — arm’s-length — sales are counted, and all figures are medians.

A house counts as renovated when the District has a remodel recorded within the last 10 years and the assessor rates the structure Excellent or Very Good. Dated or needs work means a condition rating of Average, Fair or Poor. Requiring both a remodel and a top rating matters: condition alone would label about two-thirds of the city renovated. Nothing is published from fewer than 8 sales, and where a segment was too thin over 3 years, 5 years are used and the panel says so.

Square footage is the assessor’s gross building area, which may treat finished basements and additions differently from an appraiser. Neighborhoods are the District’s official neighborhood clusters. For the underlying price levels — including condos, and the $1,097 top of the market — see DC price per square foot.

These are recorded sales and assessment records. They are not appraisals, not listings, and not an estimate of the value of any particular property. Source: DC Office of the Chief Financial Officer, via Open Data DC (CC BY 4.0).