Update, 10 November 2026: this article uses September data. Sales reported since then have revised that window, and the quality-adjusted index now shows small-building values broadly flat. See the November 2026 DC market report for the current numbers.
The median price per unit for a small DC apartment building fell from $206,750 to $191,894 over the past 12 months. That is a drop of about 7 percent, and it comes from closed sales rather than a forecast.
If you own a 4- to 7-unit building, you probably do not know how far your own number moved. Nobody sends you a statement for it. That gap is the difference between a clean refinance and a bad surprise at the closing table.
Three forces pushed value the same way
Value did not fall for one reason. Three inputs moved against owners at the same time.
Rent stopped climbing. Asking rent sits at $1,821 per unit, up 0.4 percent over the year. Concessions stayed low at 1.1 percent, so owners are not giving away free months. Rent went flat on its own.
Vacancy rose. It moved to 9.4 percent from 8.7 percent a year ago. Absorption in the small-building segment ran negative by 105 units. More empty units mean softer income.
Buyers want a higher yield. The cap rate on small DC buildings sits at 7.2 percent, up from 7.1 percent. My own closed comps read closer to 7.5 percent, on a small sample. Read that as direction, not as a precise figure.
Flat rent, rising vacancy, and a higher required yield all point one way. The same building, producing the same income, is worth less money this year.
Those three set the direction. Which submarkets actually traded sets the size of the move, and that is where a citywide median gets slippery. More on that below.
Two of those three inputs sit outside your control. Income is the third. The NOI Leak Check turns your rent roll and expenses into a current NOI and a value read in about five minutes, which is the only lever still moving while rent growth sits flat.
Sources for every figure on this page: median price per unit, sale counts, and days on market come from my own closed DC comps for 4- to 7-unit buildings. Rent, vacancy, cap rate, construction, and index numbers are the figures cited in the accompanying video.
What the drop looks like in dollars
Here is the arithmetic, worked out. It is median math, not your building.
Take a six-unit building priced at today’s median:
6 units x $191,894 = $1,151,364
A year ago, the same six units at the prior median:
6 units x $206,750 = $1,240,500
The difference is $89,136. Roughly $89,000 of value gone in 12 months, with no change to the roof, the tenants, or the rent roll.
That is the figure to carry into your next refinance discussion. The method behind it, three values rather than one, sits in What Is My Apartment Building Worth?.
Your submarket decides your real number
The citywide median hides more than it tells you. Over the past three years, price per unit moved like this:
| Submarket | Change in price per unit (3 years) |
|---|---|
| Brightwood Park | up 38.6 percent |
| Anacostia | down 5.1 percent |
| Trinidad | down 10.9 percent |
| Capitol Hill | down 20.9 percent |
That is a 59.5-point spread between the best and worst performers inside the same city, over the same three years. An owner in Brightwood Park and an owner in Capitol Hill are living in different markets while reading the same headline.
Your street matters more than the citywide figure. Know which submarket you are in before you accept any number as yours.
For the wider view across 4- to 20-unit buildings, including price per unit by neighborhood and what the local rules do to value, see What Is a DC Apartment Building Worth in 2026?.
New construction skipped your building class
Construction is the one input working for you.
Only 163 small units are under construction in DC, down 23.9 percent. Almost nobody is building 4- to 7-unit buildings right now.
The wider DC market does have 5,906 units under construction, up 19 percent. That is institutional product. Big towers, professional lease-up, amenity packages. It does not compete for your tenant in a seven-unit walk-up.
The index turned positive, and the buyer pool thinned
The price index for small buildings, which adjusts for building quality, turned positive in the second quarter, up 2.9 percent year over year after a down year in 2025. That looks like a tentative bottom. Not a recovery, but the fall has slowed.
The buyer pool tells the other half of the story. Only 168 small buildings sold in DC over the past year, down from 223. Deals are closing about 5.1 percent under asking and taking around 80 days.
Fewer buyers, more patience, and a discount on the way in. The buyers still active are disciplined. Walking into that pool with a number you have not checked is how you end up negotiating against your own guess.
The one check to run before your next lender call
Steps one and two take two minutes tonight. Step three takes a phone call.
- Multiply your unit count by $191,894. That is your rough value at today’s median.
- Compare that number to what you owe. The gap is your equity at the median, before any adjustment for condition or submarket.
- Look up your loan maturity date. If the loan matures before 2028, book a broker opinion of value this month, so you know your real number before the bank orders its own appraisal.
The median is a starting point, not an answer. Your building sits above or below it based on income, condition, and submarket.
The bank will put a number on your building this year whether or not you have put one on it first.
Get a read on your building. Request a building audit and I will price your building against closed DC sales in your submarket, then tell you where that number sits against your loan balance and your maturity date.
Frequently asked questions
How much have small apartment building values dropped in DC? The median price per unit for 4- to 7-unit DC buildings fell from $206,750 to $191,894 over the past 12 months, a drop of about 7 percent. That is closed sales data, not a forecast. Your submarket moves your own number in either direction.
Why are DC multifamily values falling? Three forces pushed the same way. Asking rent went flat at $1,821 per unit, up 0.4 percent on the year. Vacancy rose to 9.4 percent from 8.7 percent. Buyers now want a 7.2 percent yield. Same income, lower value.
What should I check before I refinance a DC apartment building? Multiply your unit count by $191,894 and compare the result to your loan balance. Then check your maturity date. If the loan matures before 2028, get a broker opinion of value this month, before your lender orders an appraisal.