Many took it as a sign of what was to come when Donald Trump invited tech industry billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk to sit in the front row at his second-term inauguration in January. The “broligarchy,” as it’s come to be known, had arrived. And with it, a clear real estate trend is emerging: Those tech bros are getting serious about putting down roots in Washington, DC. Zuckerberg, who was recently revealed as the buyer of a $23 million mansion with a 10-minute commute to the White House, is but the latest of the Silicon Valley magnates flocking to the area’s high-end homes, making ripples in the luxury real estate market as well as in politics.
Though they already had some presence in the capital, the influx of big-name tech billionaires has grown rapidly since Trump was reelected. In November, former eBay president Jeff Skoll bought a $17 million estate in the DC suburbs. Next was David Sacks—the White House’s newly minted AI and crypto czar and a member of the “PayPal Mafia”—who paid $10.3 million for a DC residence in January. And then came Zuckerberg, whose recent purchase reportedly marked the city’s third-most expensive home sale on record. They join Bezos, who bought the largest house in DC in October 2016 for $23 million; PayPal cofounder and original Facebook investor Peter Thiel, who paid $13 million for his piece of DC real estate in 2021; and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who since November 2023 has owned a $15 million mansion where Jacquline Kennedy once lived. Musk, who has captured the most headlines of the so-called broligarchy via his Trump administration position in the new Department of Government Efficiency, reportedly sleeps in his DOGE office.
Realtors explain the tech titans in DC trend
Several realtors confirmed to AD that they had noticed the deluge of industry titans buying in the area, reflecting an overall increased interest in the priciest homes DC has to offer. “We’ve had the highest concentration of luxury sales we’ve seen in the Capital Region. The uptick started pretty much right after the election results were announced in early November 2024,” says Daniel Heider, who reportedly held the listings for the homes that Zuckerberg and Sacks bought. “Last year alone, 87 properties closed above $5 million—a 64% increase from the year prior—and 10 of those exceeded the $10 million mark, reflecting a 67% year-over-year jump,” DC real estate veteran Kimberly Casey tells AD. According to Axios, half of 2024’s top 10 most expensive sales in the area closed in December, just after Trump was elected.
Coveted neighborhoods that are close to the White House, like Georgetown and Kalorama, are starting to creep up in price as a result. “So many of these transactions are what we refer to as ‘market makers.’ The pricing ceiling has been raised, and new pricing trends have begun and show no signs of slowing down,” Heider explains. Some experts are hesitant to draw conclusions just yet; DC real estate veteran Bryan Cantio notes we still haven’t seen the effects of this trend play out, though he acknowledges the influx has the potential to make a significant impact on the market. “We haven’t seen any real spikes in price increases yet, but if this trend continues, we will within the next 12–18 months,” Cantio tells AD.
Why is this happening now?
Thanks in part to Vice President JD Vance, a venture capitalist who has worked closely with Thiel, Trump’s presidency appears to have a more tech-friendly bent this time around. (Thiel donated $10 million to help Vance win his place in the Senate.) Add in the administration’s embrace of tax cuts and loose regulations, and it’s never been a more exciting time to be a billionaire in Washington. For many of them, proximity to the president is far more important than a direct return on their home investment. “I think that these people want to be able to meet with the president and members of Congress and the administration when they want to get something done. To do that, they need to be in town,” Jennifer Knoll, a veteran of the area’s luxury real estate industry, told Politico. “These CEOs have such vast fortunes that purchasing a home in DC, even if they’re overpaying, even if it’s not a great investment at the price they’re paying, doesn’t really matter. The benefits they can reap from relationships with the government can make up for any loss from a bad real estate deal.”
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To be clear, “these are third or fourth homes for most of [these buyers],” Casey tells AD. Rather than a primary residence, the homes serve as spaces “for private political conversations, executive dinners, and philanthropic strategy sessions.” These individuals “don’t just want a property,” she adds. “They want a position. And we help them secure it.”
