U r b a n T r e k k e r

Double Dip Price Decline?

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This is FHA saying.

An increase in down payments to 5%, from the current minimum 3.5%, would limit new FHA-backed loans by 40%, equivalent to 300,000 fewer home sales, according to testimony that FHA Commissioner David Stevens is set to deliver on Thursday.

[via Developments]

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Northern Virginia 2020 Transportation Plan

IF you're buying sometime in the FY 2010 to 2020, learning the details on transportation planning slated for Northern Virginia, probably won't hurt. Just to make sure that the property you're buying is not going to ended up in some sort of eminent domain.

According to the 2020 transportation plan map, here are the eight major corridors:

1. Dulles/VA-7 corridor
2. Tri-County/ Loudoun County Parkway & VA 234/VA 659 corridor
3. VA 28 corridor
4. Prince William County Parkway (VA-3000) corridor
5. Fairfax County Parkway (VA 7100) corridor
6. I-66/US-29/US-50 corridor
7. I-495 beltway corridor
8. I-95/-395/ US 1 corridor

In addition to these corridors there are selected improvements and other improvements that include outside the corridors above. Mostly the plan involved some sorts of roads/ highways infrastructure - bypass, interchanges- whether new or widening existing roads. I'm not a big fan of more roads, I think other transportation mechanism is preferable, like light rail, small feeder buses that can connect some neighborhoods to the nearest metro stations, bike trails, pedestrian trails - anything that will help reduce road congestion. And get more people to use the mass transit.

NOVA 2020 Trans Plan Map

Highlights:

• For VA 28 corridor (Fairfax, Manassas), there's a transit plan slated for light rail from Manassas to Dulles Airport with a capital cost of $790 million. More likely for 2020 FY.

• FY 2010 selected improvements metrorail extension from Dulles corridor to VA 772 in Loudoun and metrorail extension from Vienna to Centreville. (the Centreville plan I haven't heard about it).

• 2020 improvements include metrorail from Dunn Loring to Tysons Corner to Maryland.

• Light rail in US 1 corridor from Alexandria to the Pentagon.

• 2010 FY and 2020 bicycle and pedestrian improvements.

2010 major improvements include Columbia Pike to Pentagon Trail, Springfield to Tysons Corner Bikeway

2020 major improvements include Light rail VA 7 -Tysons Corner to Baileys Crossroads; Columbia Pike corridor -Baileys Crossroads to Pentagon, VA-7 (4 to 6 lanes) Seven Corners to Baileys Crossroads.

Read the 2020 NOVA transportation report here.

--

Correction: Headline should read not "Virginia" but Northern Virginia.

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Major Cities Transit Pattern in Art (DC included)

How do Americans get to work?  Among the 7 (correction: 8) major cities in this pattern (below) - Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, San Fransisco, Houston, Washington DC and Seattle - New Yorkers by far use mass transit to and from work than any other cities. While Houston holds the trophy for the highest percentage of commuters who 'drive themselves.' At least, DC has proportional method of transit pattern, by public transport and drive.

Commuting patterns in major cities via Infrastructurist.

Artist Martha Kang McGill illustrates the commuting habits of eight major U.S. cities, illustrating just who is driving, walking, biking, or taking mass transit. All stats are based on the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.

 

Pretty neat, huh?

The Big Problem with Short Sales

Memo to buyers: be patient, if you're buying a short-sales.

A short sales required third-party approval, that is the lender/s holding the loan/s will have to get on board on your purchase. Sometimes they dance with you. Sometimes they don't. No quick closing.

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DC Area Still Good for Business

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That said, restaurants, groceries and electronic retailers interested in the area for potential expansion. The line up includes Fresh Market, Wakefern Food Corp., Brixx Wood-Fired Pizza, HhGregg, Burger Joint, and more. More business moving into the area or looking for expansion, good for the local economy.

$300 Million Cash for Appliances, $12+ Mill. for DC, MD, VA

If you are in the market for new'energy efficient' appliances, check this out. The Department of Energy recently allocated $300 million for cash for its Energy Star rated appliances. The funding is part of the Recovery package.

The states that already have the program in place, via Christian Science Monitor.

The program will start in several states over the next few months, with New York State’s program kicking off Friday. Eight states – Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, and Wisconsin – have already launched their programs. Other states will launch in coming months, many around Earth Day in April.

What's in the bag for the Greater Washington DC.

• District of Columbia receives $568,000. Program expected to start in April 2010.
• Maryland receives $5,405,000. Rebates expected to start in March 2010.
• Virginia receives $7,445,000. Program expected to start in April 2010.

 
 

Links to the states rebate program websites: DC rebate, Maryland rebate program, VIrginia rebate program.

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January 2010: 6 States Account for Nearly 60% of National Total

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The report on RealtyTrac showed that these states - California, Florida, Arizona, Illinois, Michigan and Nevada - together holds nearly 60 percent of the national total foreclosures. One in every 409 households in the US received foreclosure filing in January. Foreclosure filings are default  notices, scheduled auctions and bank  repossessions.

Dig in deeper month-to-month. Eventhough Washington DC foreclosure filings up 12.28 percent it is  -7.25 percent below January 2009. One in every 1,486 households received foreclosure notices. Virginia (the whole state) foreclosure filings up 14 percent, but it's -2.42 percent below last year. One in every 631 received filing. Maryland's (the state) foreclosure filings dip 22.8 percent while still 41 percent above last year.

Read full story here.

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Ice Dams can Damage Your Roofs.. and More

Since we're still in the storm mode (at least for the time being), you might want to pay attention to those ice dams. Because of the heavy loads, it can potentially damaged your roofs, especially if you live in a Dutch Colonial homes. 

An ice dam is a ridge of ice that forms at the edge of a roof and prevents melting snow (water) from draining off the roof. The water that backs up behind the dam can leak into a home and cause damage to walls, ceilings, insulation, and other areas. Figure 1 shows a cross section of a home with an ice dam.

Figure 1. Cross section of a one-and-a-half story house with an ice dam.

Via University of Minnesota Extension. 

  

Giant hanging icicles hanging from the eave is an indication of poorly insulated attic with many attic bypasses. So that means, adding insulation in the attic would help remedy this. As a bonus, attic insulation can also help reduce your energy bills.

From Don Lipman, Capital Weather Gang writer (who have lived in Dutch Colonial home for many years), this advice comes handy. "After a storm like the one we just had, the best thing you can do, if at all possible without risking injury, is to remove the snow from the dormers. In general, it's best to limit snow and ice build-up on every roof because, to some extent, they're all vulnerable, particularly the flatter ones and those with more than one layer of shingles."

Smackdown: Fairfax vs. Montgomery county

In politics, this is what you call opposition research. By looking outside, Montgomery county assigned 2 staffs to do a comparative data report. (Because Fairfax "snatched" a couple of big businesses relocating to the area - I think Hilton is one of them- instead of Montgomery county). The report released by Office of Legislative Oversight Montgomery counties gives Fairfax county the bragging rights for the number of jobs, income, and crime rate. Though, Montgomery county is ahead in terms of percentage of land preserved for open space/ parkland. In terms of population, Fairfax has more population density per square miles, 2,570 persons/sq.mi vs. 1,912 persons/sq.mi for Montgomery.

Comparative data, via Office of Legislative Oversight Montgomery county.

                                                   Montgomery County                 Fairfax County

Land area                                     497 miles                                    395 miles

% of land preserve as open space    38%                                            15%

Population (2008)                         950,980 people                          1,015,302 people

Budget approved FY10                  $4.47 billion                                $4.34 billion

Expenditure per resident               $4,706                                       $4,316

Sources of revenue:

Property tax                                32%                                             57%

Income tax                                  27%                                            none

Other tax                                     7%                                               11%

All non tax revenue                      34%                                              32%

Tax rate:

Residential (per $100 assessed)  from $0.975 to $2.835                from $1.066 to $1.113

Commercial  - ditto                    from $0.975 to $2.835                from $1.176 to $1.443

No. of jobs  (2007)                     654,728                                       855,842

Unemployment                            5.2%                                            4.7%

Housing:

Total housing units                    365,083 units                                393,365 units

Median housing price ('08)         $489,400                                       $523,300

Foreclosure rate                        2.4%                                              3.3%   

Sure, jobs attracted more people to move to Fairfax. Fairfax has 200,000 more jobs than Montgomery! However, there's other things to consider when it comes to choosing where you want to live, work and play. Fairfax spend less per resident as oppose to Montgomery. On the other hand, taxes higher in Montgomery county than Fairfax. What about schools? Oh well.. you can continue digging in the data...       

Read full report, here.

Washington DC's Foreclosure Up 1.7% from 2008

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The second wave of foreclosures? The first wave was because of toxic loans. The second, (I believe) this has something to do with job losses.

The Washington region ranked 48 out of 203 metro areas with 56,347 foreclosure notices in 2009, for a rate of 2.6 percent of housing units. That’s up 1.7 percent from 2008.

The Baltimore area ranked 108 out of 203 metro areas examined in RealtyTrac’s report. There were 15,064 properties that received foreclosure notices in 2009, or nearly 1.4 percent of the region’s housing market, up 27.9 percent from the year before and 88.7 percent from 2007.

[via Washington Business Journal]

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