One market, three jurisdictions

Why the Institute exists

The DMV is one labor market and one housing market spread across three governments and dozens of local jurisdictions, each of which counts things differently. A household priced out of the District looks in Prince George's County; a firm that can't expand in Arlington looks in Montgomery. No single local agency measures the market the way households actually experience it. The Institute does.

It was founded by Eddy, a McLean-based Bright MLS agent and software developer, to bring the same rigor real estate professionals use internally to the public record. Data updates quarterly. Commentary and briefings are written in-house, not syndicated.

What we publish

• The DMV Housing Index — repeat-sales price index for 40+ submarkets.
• Housing Production — permits, pipeline, cost, and delivery timelines.
• Land Use & Zoning — rezonings, plan updates, and by-right capacity.
• Cost Burden Index — rent- and price-to-income by submarket and household type.
• Investment Flows — multifamily and commercial transactions, cap rates, lenders.
• Migration & Demand — migration, federal employment, household formation.

How we work

• Independent. No positions on individual projects, rezonings, or ballot measures. No funding tied to a predetermined finding.
• Reproducible. Every figure ships with its source and data vintage. Datasets are released whenever the original source permits redistribution.
• Regional. The unit of analysis is the metro, not any one jurisdiction.
• Corrected in the open. Errors are fixed in place and logged with a date.

Disclosures

The founder is a licensed real estate agent active in Northern Virginia. Index readings and briefings are research products and are not a comparative market analysis; for a property-specific valuation, work with a licensed agent. Funding sources are listed in the annual report.