WASHINGTON - The real estate market has been a beacon of bad news for the past two years, especially commercial real estate. But there is one area that's doing well, especially in the Washington region: corporate housing.

State Department employee Emily Ronek recently moved from Russia to D.C. with her husband for an important arrival. 

"This will be the first official address of our daughter, who is due basically any day now," Ronek said.

During their stay in D.C., the couple wanted a furnished home with a short-term lease because they'll be returning to Russia with their new daughter in just months. They discovered a three-bedroom house through Attache Property Management.

"You can't compare living in a hotel with living in a home, and we very quickly made it feel like a home," Ronek said.

D.C.-based Attache has 120 properties in the city. Despite the tough economy, revenue is up 10 percent from last year, said Attache president Tim Touchette.

"We're a little isolated from the rest of country with the government creating so many jobs and we're getting lots of requests," Touchette said.

The 2009 corporate housing report says between 2007 and 2008, inventory nationwide dropped about 6 percent. But in the D.C. area, it increased by more than 9 percent.

Marriott ExecuStay general manager Young Hill says demand has declined steadily since last summer, but numbers are still strong. In this area, they're renting out about 500 apartments.

"We are lucky that we have the government as our largest employer because that does help keep our units filled compared to other parts of the country," Hill said.

Both ExecuStay and Attache are optimistic demand for corporate housing in this area will remain plentiful, even if the economy fails to rebound soon.

The corporate housing report also made some interesting predictions about inventory changes, forecasting an 11-percent decline in D.C.'s Maryland suburbs, an 8-percent fall in the Virginia suburbs and a 38-percent increase in the District.

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