DC housing

Marc Fisher has a typically meandering and pointless column today that nonetheless left me astounded:

The graffiti that fill the walls of the vestibule at the New Dragon Carryout tells the story: R.I.P. tributes to young people killed right outside, boastful tagging by the crews that sell drugs on the corner, and this evocation of an all-too-local address: "16th and Death Row."

The New Dragon is hard by that place, at 15th and C streets SE, on a block of Capitol Hill where house prices have shot up from $120,000 to $500,000 since 2001, without much of a decrease in the shots fired outside.

Half a mill to live in a dangerous neighborhood. Amazing. And George Stephanopolous is also cashing in on the housing boom:

Sellers:

ABC's George Stephanopoulos and Ali Wentworth.

Asking price : $3.5 million.

Details : The "This Week" anchor and his actress wife are selling off their 1810 Georgetown townhouse on 28th Street NW. The six-bedroom, four-bath Federal-style brick residence with a modern addition, terrace and garden -- purchased for $2 million in 2002 -- is apparently too tight.

$1.5 million profit in 3 years. That's, what, 25% appreciation per year? D.C. is just bananas.