Western Avenue is the line. Stand where it crosses Wisconsin Avenue, by the Friendship Heights Metro station, and one side is Washington, DC; the other is Montgomery County, Maryland. The Red Line and the shops are shared; however, the price per square foot, the property tax rate and the taxes due at settlement are not.
To compare the two sides, I pulled every Bright MLS closed sale from October 2025 through September 2026 inside our neighborhood boundaries: Friendship Heights DC, Tenleytown and American University Park on the DC side, and Friendship Heights MD and Chevy Chase MD on the Maryland side. Because houses and condos are separate markets, they get separate tables.
Friendship Heights home prices on each side of Western Avenue
Houses
Detached and attached houses, October 2025 – September 2026:
| Area | Sales | Median price | Median $/sq ft | Median days on market | Sale price vs. original list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friendship Heights DC | 31 | $1,310,000 | $575 | 7 | 100.0% |
| Tenleytown | 20 | $1,425,000 | $535 | 8.5 | 99.2% |
| American University Park | 74 | $1,482,500 | $588 | 6 | 100.3% |
| DC side, combined | 105 | $1,450,000 | $580 | 6 | 100.0% |
| Chevy Chase MD | 247 | $1,585,000 | $511 | 10 | 98.5% |
| Maryland side, combined | 247 | $1,585,000 | $511 | 10 | 98.5% |
The neighborhood boundaries overlap a little; therefore, the DC total counts each sale once. Friendship Heights MD had no house sales at all; it’s a district of condo high-rises; as a result, the Maryland house market here is Chevy Chase.
- Maryland houses cost more, but less per foot. The Maryland median was $135,000 higher, yet DC-side houses sold for $69 more per square foot ($580 vs. $511). In other words, you get more house for the money in Chevy Chase MD.
- DC-side houses moved faster. A median 6 days on market at 100.0% of the original list price, versus 10 days and 98.5% in Maryland. As a result, expect less room to negotiate on the DC side.
Condos and co-ops
Condos and co-ops, same 12 months:
| Area | Sales | Median price | Median $/sq ft | Median days on market | Sale price vs. original list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DC side, combined | 14 | $547,500 | $636 | 21.5 | 96.3% |
| Friendship Heights MD | 75 | $330,000 | $354 | 49 | 94.7% |
| Chevy Chase MD | 28 | $537,500 | $457 | 35 | 96.2% |
| Maryland side, combined | 103 | $375,000 | $366 | 41 | 94.9% |
However, the condo picture flips. Maryland has the volume: 103 sales, most of them in the large Friendship Heights MD buildings, at a median $375,000 and $366 per square foot. By contrast, the DC side had only 14 condo sales, at $636 per square foot. With so few sales, the DC median moves around; for example, over 24 months it was $675,000 on 41 sales.
The tax bill changes at the line
For a home you live in, DC taxes residential property at $0.85 per $100 of assessed value (homes with one or two units pay $1.00 per $100 on assessed value above $2.558 million), per the DC Office of Tax and Revenue. In addition, if you register the home as your principal residence, the homestead deduction takes $91,950 off the assessment (tax year 2026) and limits taxable assessment increases to 10% a year.
The Montgomery County rate
In Montgomery County, the levy year 2026 rate schedule (July 2026 – June 2027) puts the total rate for an unincorporated address at $1.1521 per $100, including the state’s $0.112. Additionally, the incorporated Chevy Chase municipalities add their own rate on top, from $0 in Section 5 to $0.0617 in Chevy Chase Village, and the Village of Friendship Heights adds $0.04. Maryland’s homestead credit also caps taxable assessment increases at 10% a year, but there is no flat deduction like DC’s.
Annual property tax on the same home
For example, here is the annual property tax on an owner-occupied home, assuming the assessment equals the purchase price:
| Home | DC side | Maryland, unincorporated | Maryland, in a municipality |
|---|---|---|---|
| $600,000 condo | $4,320 | $6,910 | $7,150 (Village of Friendship Heights) |
| $1,500,000 house | $11,970 | $17,280 | $18,210 (Chevy Chase Village) |
| Each side’s median house price | $11,540 on $1,450,000 | $18,260 on $1,585,000 | – |
On the same $1,500,000 house, that’s about $5,300 more a year in Maryland, and about $2,600 more on a $600,000 condo. Similarly, the bills on homes that actually sold show the same gap: the median annual tax listed on DC-side house sales was $9,212, versus $14,141 on the Maryland side. However, those figures reflect the sellers’ assessments and credits, not what a new owner will pay.
