Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/13/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/12/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/11/2009

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Northern Virginia October Housing Sales

Source: MRIS

Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/10/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/9/2009

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Northern Virginia Weekend Bits Bucket 11/7-11/8, 2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/6/2009

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Fannie Mae Becomes a Landlady

Hmmm . . . I wonder how many this will actually help.

"Thousands of borrowers on the verge of foreclosure will soon have the option of renting their homes from Fannie Mae, under a policy announced Thursday.

The government-controlled company, through its new "Deed for Lease" program, will allow borrowers to transfer ownership to Fannie Mae and sign a one-year lease, with month-to-month extensions after that".

Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/5/2009

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News and Things

VA_Investor has a strategy to consider:

"FHA loans are assumable at the original rate and terms. The new buyer must qualify under FHA underwriting guidelines.

This could be a huge hedge against rate increases causing your home value to drop or simply freezing the Market. Your house will sell with 5% financing when the going rate is 8+. Conventional loans have a due on sale clause and cannot be assumed.

I'd be going FHA if it were me buying now."

And this from Calculated Risk: FHA Delays Fiscal Report. They might need a bailout.

Also, the Senate's finally done it. They passed a bill today (98-0) extending the housing tax credit:

"The measure would also extend through April 30 an $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit and create a new $6,500 credit for homebuyers who have been in their current residence for the last five years or more".

Current Housing Inventory

As we head into the quiet months of November through the end of January, total housing inventory in Northern Virginia is at its lowest point since June-July, 2005. The big question is what's in store for the Spring selling season (which tends to get an early start after the Super Bowl).

Also from Virginia MLS is a roller-coaster-looking graph of the percent of active homes that are available.

The total "Northern Virginia Inventory" represents the combined housing inventory (listed on the MLS) of Alexandria City, Arlington County, Fairfax City, Fairfax County, Falls Church City, Loudoun County, Manassas City, Manassas Park City, and Prince William County.



(Here's the spreadsheet on a separate page).

Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/4/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/3/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/2/2009

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Northern Virginia Weekend Bits Bucket 10/31-11/1, 2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 10/30/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 10/29/2009

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And So It Continues. . .

"Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Democrats plan to extend an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers and allow benefits for some people who already own residences, a spokeswoman for Majority Leader Harry Reid said.

The proposal would let homeowners qualify for a $6,500 credit if they have lived in their residence for five years, said Reid aide Regan Lachapelle. . . .

The homebuyers’ credit would be available to individuals earning up to $125,000, or $250,000 for couples, up from $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for couples under the current law, Lachapelle said."

Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 10/28/2009

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S&P/Case-Shiller® August Home-Price Index

The S&P/Case Shiller® composite index (graph here) for the month of August was released today.

"'Broadly speaking, the rate of annual decline in home price values continues to improve' says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. 'The two Composites and 19 of the 20 metro areas showed an improvement in the annual rates of return, as seen through a moderation in their annual declines. Looking at the monthly data, 17 of the MSAs and both Composites saw price increases in August over July. While many of the markets remain down versus this time last year, the relative rate of decline has shown some real improvement. California, in particular, has seen some real positive prints in recent months. We see this general trend whether you look at the as-reported data or the seasonally adjusted figures. Once again, however, we do want to remind people of the upcoming expiration of the Federal First-Time Buyer’s Tax Credit in November and anticipated higher unemployment rates through year-end. Both may have a dampening effect on home prices.'"

Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 10/27/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 10/26/2009

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Northern Virginia Weekend Bits Bucket 10/24-10/25, 2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 10/23/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 10/22/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 10/21/2009

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Maybe Yes, Maybe No

Calculated Risk has a post on how the Executive Branch is feeling these days about renewing the $8K home buyer bribe. The new news is that the HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan apparently is sounding rather ambivalent about it. My personal suspicion is that it doesn't matter what the White House thinks -- the November 30th deadline is way too soon for them to make a decision on an issue of this magnitude. (They need extra weeks to "study the government data on the cost," according to the HUD Secretary). But Senators Dodd and Isakson want it renewed (and in the latter's case, expanded) rather badly.

CR points out some pitfalls of the continuance of this scheme:

"There are other reasons to oppose the tax credit (other than it is expensive and poorly targeted). An extension of the tax credit will increase the apartment vacancy rate, push down rents, and lead to more defaults for CMBS (with falling rents).

CR also reminds us from Reuters: "The agency [IRS] has opened 107,000 civil cases related to the credit and identified 167 criminal schemes."

Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 10/20/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 10/19/2009

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Northern Virginia Weekend Bits Bucket 10/17-10/18, 2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 10/16/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 10/15/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 10/14/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 10/13/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 10/12/2009

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Northern Virginia Weekend Bits Bucket 10/10-10/11, 2009

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Northern Virginia September Housing Sales

Source: MRIS

Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 10/9/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 10/8/2009

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