News

In the early 1990s, VAR was instrumental in passing an overhaul of Virginia’s real estate agency law and regulation. In light of changing business practices since that time, VAR leadership has been asked to consider recommendations for possible updates to Virginia's license law during the 2011 General Assembly Session.  There are three general recommendations under consideration:

According to NAR, sales of previously occupied homes fell more than 27 percent from June to July, the largest month-to-month drop on record. And they dropped to the lowest level in 15 years, more than 25 percent below their July 2009 level.Click here to read the full story at Realtor.org. 

Virginia's economy stands to take a heavy blow if Secretary of Defense Robert Gates's proposal to cut the Pentagon's budget goes ahead as planned.  And there's little recourse for the Commonwealth's political leaders who are obviously concerned about the proposed cuts: Congress doesn't need to approve them.  Here's what's at stake in the Commonwealth.

Size does matter when it comes to the perception of space in a home. That’s why it’s important to make sure you show off every square foot of your listing so that buyers can visualize enough room for all of their belongings.

Pending home sales in the South (which, obviously, includes Virginia) rose in June, unlike the rest of the country. According to NAR's most recent pending home sales index, the country as a whole saw pending sales drop 4.6%; the  Northeast was hit particularly hard (down 12%), as was the Midwest (down 9.5%).In the South, though, pending sales were up almost 4% in June, which bodes well for the rest of July and into August, when those contracts will (hopefully) turn into closed deals.

Governor Bob McDonnell announced today that a new website has been developed for his Housing Policy Advisory Committee. www.VirginiaHousingPolicy.com includes information about the Committee, the Governor's Executive Order No. 10 (which aims to establish a housing policy framework for Virginia), and ways for Virginia citizens to provide input on how to bring more affordable housing to the Commonwealth.

An interim housing policy report will be presented at the Governor's Housing Conference in November.

A retreat in government programs and support for homeownership may be imminent according to an article published in the Washington Post on July 21, 2010.  

The administration's narrower view of who should own a home and what the government should to do to support them could have major implications for the economy as well as borrowers. Broadly, the administration may wind down some government backing for home loans, but increase the focus on affordable rentals.

The Case-Shiller index showed month over month and year over year gains of 1.3% and 4.6% respectively, but the report authors warn that the housing economy isn't out of the woods yet. Much of this improvement could be attributable to the government's now-expired homebuyer tax credit.

"We need to watch where the housing market will go after these temporary stimuli go away," said managing director of the S&P indices David Blitzer. "June's existing and new home sales and housing starts data have not shown real improvement either."

He added: "It still looks possible that the housing market might bounce along the bottom for the foreseeable future before showing any real improvement that will filter through to the rest of the economy."

You may remember this image from the cover of the September/October 2009 issue of Commonwealth.  As much as we like that cover and story, you can now forget all about them.

Accepting the recommendation of VAR, Gov. McDonnell appointed Sandee Ferebee and Joe Funkhouser, both past presidents of VAR, to the Virginia Real Estate Board. Each will serve a four-year term.

Ferebee is Retired Chairman Emeritus of Prudential Towne Realty in Virginia Beach and served as VAR's president in 1990. Funkhouser is Managing Broker and owner of Coldwell Banker Funkhouser in Harrisonburg; he served as VAR's president in 1986.