Rock Creek Forest (Chevy Chase, MD)

Rock Creek Forest — situated in the eastern tip of Chevy Chase, Maryland — is a well-defined and conveniently located neighborhood in the close-in DC suburbs. It is bordered by national and county parkland to three sides: the District Line and Rock Creek Park to the south, Ray´s Meadow and the Meadowbrook stables to the west, and the Capital Crescent hiker-biker trail to the north. To the west, its limit is Grubb Road with the Rock Creek Shopping Center (home to the locally famous Parkway Deli, the Takoma-Silver Spring Co-op, a friendly Health Club, a spa, a dry cleaning service and three neighborhood restaurants).

There are about 650 households in single-family homes. The beautifully situated Pool and Tennis Club (membership, if held by a resident owner, can be conveyed to the next owner in a sale), several community interest groups, a fitness center and a variety of houses of worship with preschool and daycare facilities are the social hubs of the neighborhood. RCF is part of the cluster feeding into Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School — a public high school consistently ranked one of the best in the US which offers an optional International Baccalaureate program to enable students to attend university in Europe or other parts of the world.

Commuters to downtown DC find many fast and easy options: “Ride-On” busses to either the Friendship Heights or Silver Spring Metro stations, regular buses to Bethesda or the Express on 16th Street. By car, downtown DC is quickly reached on (almost) traffic light-free Beach Drive.

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Map of Rock Creek ForestPlease note that our old Rock Creek Forest blog is no longer updated. For a limited time, you can find older entries here.) 

Quick Statistics:

In 2015, 27 houses sold on the Chevy Chase side of Rock Creek Forest (up from 23 in 2014 and 19 in 2013), at prices between $480,500 and $1,199,000 at an average of $727,574. Prices here more or less flattened for several years after the 2006 “crash,” but increased again until last year. (Scroll down to the bottom for graphs and details.) 

RCF Real Estate Sales in 2015

Rock Creek Forest house prices, statsWe had 27 single family home sales on the Chevy Chase side of RCF last year, which—after several years of declining numbers followed by an increase to 23 sales in 2014—signifies a continuing recovery (in 2013, there was an all-time low of only 19 closed sales. For perspective, there were 33 sales in 2007).

After a three-year climb, however, prices were slightly down from 2014. The median closed price for a single family home sold in RCF in 2015 was $690,000 (down 8% from 2014, but still considerably above the $606,000 we registered in 2013). The shift might partly be owed to the highest Rock Creek Forest sale to date—a custom-built and updated contemporary on Washington Ave that closed for more than $1.5M.

RCF ChCh-DOM 2007-2015Inventory still is rather low for a balanced market. Of course, it all comes down to price: At the beginning of 2016, we have two houses still on the market from 2015–both have been exposed for more than 3 months with minimal reductions. And generally, it took longer to sell a house in 2015: the median number of days on the market (sometimes more useful than the average that might be skewed by properties that linger) for a house was up to 25 days from a mere 9 days in 2014. That means, more than half the homes needed at least 3-4 weeks before entering into a sales contract.

 

Please call 202-487-7177 or email for more information and a printable neighborhood brochure.

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