Northern Virginia Real Estate Blog

As a twist on the typical “Best Places To Live” surveys, CNN Money released its 2008 “Best Places to Live and Launch“.

The rankings rate the business friendliness of 296 Census-designated metro areas, and then identify that area’s town that best combine business and pleasure for its residents.

In 2008, the Top 10 Live and Launch cities are:

1. Bellevue, WA (pop. 111,608)
2. Georgetown, TX (pop. 37,963)
3. Buford, GA (pop. 13,576)
4. Marina del Rey, CA (pop. 8,891)
5. Bethesda, MD (pop. 59,475)
6. Portland, OR (pop. 535,421)
7. Denver, CO (pop. 555,932)
8. Charlotte, NC (pop. 596,123)
9. Fort Worth, TX (pop. 595,062)
10. Franklin, MA (pop. 29,642)

For the Northern Virginia area, Leesburg made the list at #31. Other cities and towns in Virginia include: Virginia Beach (#14), Charlottesville (#18 - Go Hoos!!), and Blacksburg (#43). View the complete, 100-city listing.

When mortgage rates change rapidly, it’s a fiscal challenge to shop for a home and/or home loan.

Lately, mortgage rates have been especially volatile, mirroring the wild moves of the stock market.

Here’s how up-and-down stock markets have been in 2008: Through last week, the S&P 500 Index changed more than 1 percent per day on 28 separate days.

This represents 52 percent of all trading days and is the most volatile measurement since 1938.

Mortgage financing is impacted by stock market changes because when money flows into stocks, it tends to come from bond markets. And, when money leaves stocks, it tends to “gets parked” in bond markets.

Because mortgage bonds set mortgage rates, you can understand how stock market volatility can make it difficult to predict what home loan payments might look like.

Volatility is expected to continue for the next several quarters so if you see a mortgage rate you like today, consider locking it right away — it probably won’t last long.

Source
U.S. Stock Volatility Climbs to Highest in 70 Years, S&P Says
Jeff Kearns
Bloomberg, March 20, 2008
https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213&sid=av840GLwE4UA&refer=home

Each month, the Commerce Department and the National Association of REALTORS release national housing data.

The former’s release is called the New Residential Sales report and the latter’s is called the Existing Home Sales report.

Both reports highlight the “median sales price”, the point at which half of the homes in the U.S. sold for more, and half sold for less.

Last month, the median sales prices were as follows:

• Existing homes: Down 8.2 percent
• New homes: Down 2.7 percent

The very definition of “median”, however, makes this data point useless for national housing statistics.

If a large amount of homes are sold in regions where home prices are traditionally high, the median sales price will trend higher.

If a large amount of homes are sold in regions where home prices are traditionally low, the median sales price will trend lower.

Again, all that the median sales price tells us is the price point at which half the homes in the country sold for more, and half sold for less.

Real estate is a local phenomenon and so grouping the entire country’s supply of homes together makes little sense. A home in San Francisco has little to do with a home in Omaha.

To get a true gauge of your local market, talk to a real estate agent that knows the local market well. You’ll not only get meaningful statistics about a neighborhood, but you’ll get good insights, too.

Consumer Confidence fell to its lowest point in three years and anybody who watches the evening news can understand why.

Each day, news programs barrage Americans with tales of economic woe and American Opinion is largely shaped by the media.

After enough time, the reporting becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But, in the Consumer Confidence report, there was a choice piece of data that isn’t getting reported by the news programs and it’s a rather important piece.

Although fewer consumers expect to buy automobiles and appliances over the next six months, those with plans to buy homes is actually higher by 14 percent.

In other words, despite weakening confidence in the economy, an increasing number of Americans are planning to buy homes this season and next.

Consumers may be motivated to buy this year by a number of factors:

• Lower home prices nationwide
• Affordable mortgage rates
• Fear that mortgage products will require larger downpayment

Regardless, the media is choosing to ignore this part of the story. Instead, the news programs are focusing on the negatives – just look at the headlines.

It’s no wonder that confidence is down — bad news is all the American Public tends to hear.

Each quarter, the Census Bureau releases the Homeowner Vacancy Rate, a housing statistic the measures the percentage of homes for sale that are vacant.

A home listed for sale may be vacant for several reasons including:

1. The home has been foreclosed and the owner has moved out
2. The home seller moved into a new home and not sold his former home
3. The home was a rental property and is being sold without a tenant

In Q4 2007, the Homeowner Vacancy Rate matched its all-time high of 2.8 percent.

The statistic can be misleading, however, because Homeowner Vacancy Rates appear to be seasonal and the fourth quarter is more prone to high figures.

As evidence: In 6 of the last 7 years, Q4 posted higher vacancy rates than for the preceding three quarters.

Vacancy rates may increase in the fall because homesellers without a “need” to sell tend to take their properties off the market during the Holiday Season. That leaves an over-weighting of empty homes for sale — precisely what the Homeowner Vacancy Rate measures.

For an interactive version of the chart above, visit the Wall Street Journal Online.

Source
Housing Markets: A Vacant Look
The Wall Street Journal Online
March 21, 2008
https://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/retro-VACANCY08.html

HGTV catalogs the Top 15 Home Improvements For Sellers, complete with narrarated, 90-second videos and the expected return-on-investment per project.

• Best Return: Minor Bathroom Remodeling
• Worst Return: Living Room Updates

Each locale in the country will get a slightly larger (or lesser) return on the HGTV-suggested projects. It’s not just a home improvement that matters, but a home improvement relative to your neighborhood.

Before starting work on a project, check with a real estate agent that knows your local market well to minimize the chances of starting a project that will yield little return.

See the entire 15 Home Improvement list on the HGTV FrontDoor Web site.