Date Archives February 2008

Tuesday links 02-26-2008

Planes, trains and automobiles – Infrastructure as asset classULI issues one last dire warning: “If driving continues to be the only practical transportation option in many metropolitan areas, no amount of infrastructure investment will be adequate.”  Will we head the warning?UVA, Charlottesville and Albemarle get together to discuss planning issues”When you go shopping now, it’s not even a buzzword anymore — it’s expected,” …  referring to the “green” labeling of products.Real estate commissions: Where are they now?

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Delaying posting market data

Until the first week of March.  It will be more useful to wait until the first quarter is in full swing before posting any further analysis, other than anecdotal evidence.Today’s release of national real estate data shows that home sales are down nationally, and the Calculated Risk has typically insightful analysis….  this data gives more insight into the psychology of today’s buyers and sellers and not so much into the Central Virginia real estate market.  In the meantime, check here for all stories I’ve written about the local market.

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A great comment on mass transit in Central Virginia

In a discussion at Charlottesville Tomorrow:We still have a narrow window of opportunity to buy right-of-way for transit; use existing shoulders; use existing rails; even put BRT lanes on the Meadowcreek Pkwy….  If you can’t walk to a bus/trolly; if you can’t get there on a safe bicycle lane; if you can’t park & ride, the system will be underused.  The system MUST connect and serve all of our county growth areas.There’s a lot more there, and it’s well worth reading in its entirety.  The Central Virginia region is likely to look much, much different in fifty years than it does today.

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What is the timeframe for the new FHA loan limits to be available for consumers?

I love getting questions through my nifty Meebo widget in the sidebar.An answer to the question can be found here:HUD is required by the law to publish the new mortgage limits by March 14, 2008….  This data can be found here (pdf).The NAR sent a letter to HUD on February 13, 2008, urging HUD to implement the limits as quickly as possible.  The implementation schedule is complicated by the fact that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be using the same limits above $417,000 and Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) Director James B.  Lockhart, III (Fannie and Freddie’s regulator) noted in a recent speech that implementation could take up to three months with an additional month for partial enactment.

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Charlottesville Foreclosures – not that bad

Today’s Daily Progress notes:Less than 1/2 of 1 percent of Charlottesville area homeowners were either in foreclosure or more than 60 days behind payments on a subprime loan, according to October statistics compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond….The Charlottesville region has been immune to the high numbers of subprime loan defaults seen elsewhere because the local economy is relatively strong and stable.  Thanks in large part to the area’s quality of life, as well as the University of Virginia and the National Ground Intelligence Center, families continue to move to the Charlottesville area.Three things – 1 – I like a positive story as much as anybody, however one of the benefits of blogs is that with blogs, every statistic can be (and frequently is) cited….  For example – how is the “Charlottesville region” defined – which localities are included?2 – Take this positive story with the same amount of salt as you do the negative ones – there is always more to the story.3 – It’s great to see a non-doom-and-gloom story fora change….  Related reading:Sub-prime lending and the slums of tomorrow.Subprime loans failing pre-resetsNow is as good a time as any to dispel the conception that interest rates are high.

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