From the category archives:

Economic Trends

Gap Between New Homes and Resales

January 29, 2012

The chart below has been compiled by an Economics Blog named Calculated Risk ….  to illustrate the home sales in the country for the past 8 years… with lines showing sales of new construction vs. resales of existing homes.  It’s dramatic and it speaks for itself.  Of course like many others, we believe one of the fastest [...]

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Are We Turning the Corner?

January 16, 2012

USA Today ran a very positive article this morning saying that many economists think the real estate market is about to make a positive turn, particularly new construction. Here is the article.

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Virginia Poverty Rates

December 29, 2011

According to the U.S.Census Bureau the Poverty Rate in the United States was 15.3% in 2010. Virginia’s poverty rate came in at 11.1% with the City of Harrisonburg having the highest poverty rate of 30.1% and the City of Falls Church having the least, 3.1%. The chart below will show the rates for Charlottesville and [...]

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Retirement Mecca: Is Central VA Ready For The Boomers?

November 26, 2011

Is central Virginia doing enough to prepare for the inevitable needs of aging Boomers?   As the Charlottesville area continues to frequent national lists of “best places to live” or “best places to retire”, there is bound to be some strain on the public services as retirees choose our area for their retirements. The Jefferson Area [...]

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Higher Limits for FHA Loans

November 19, 2011

Although the loan limits may vary from market to market, this week the U.S. Congress voted to restore the FHA portion of conforming loan limits in the highest-priced real estate markets back up to $729,750 through 2013.   The limits had been raised during the 2008 financial crisis from $625,500,  but that extension had expired in October.  The loan limits [...]

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Ginnie Mae Home Mortgage Financing

November 17, 2011

As the recent housing market has suffered through tightened credit standards, many buyers have found themselves unable to qualify for the typical home loans backed by Fannie and Freddie.   In many cases their credit is good but there is some other attribute (their age/experience, the property itself etc) that makes it unfeasible to secure a [...]

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Charlottesville Businesses Offer New Phone App

November 1, 2011

Call me old-fashioned.   Well actually, you might have to get in line, to call me old-fashioned.  However I do love technology, to the extent that sometimes I see people’s eyes glaze a bit while they mutter the ‘geek’ word.  I can’t help it.  Despite old-fashioned tendencies, I love innovation.  But for some reason when I learned about the following article’s details, the [...]

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A Look at the Current Charlottesville Housing Market

October 31, 2011

Barry Merchant, an economist with the Virginia Housing Development Authority, visits the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors twice a year to advise us of the current economic trends and more importantly how they are impacting the Central Virginia real estate market. Read here his latest presentation given at Farmington Country Club on October 26, 2011.

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Darden School Offers Advice For Entrepreneurs

October 26, 2011

The Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia has just announced their schedule for their upcoming conference on Entrepreneurship.  This is a 2-day event to be held Nov. 3-4  (free for students and faculty, and only $50 for other attendees) that offers discussion from some of the most intelligent and successful humans on [...]

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Poverty-By-State for the Past 10 Years

September 22, 2011

Last year the official poverty level of income in the U.S. for a family of 4 was $22,314.  We hear a lot of talk about increasing poverty with the recent prolonged recession, and now we have an INTERACTIVE MAP that documents the amount of poverty in each state over the past 10 years.    Be sure to [...]

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