Hampton Roads Housing/Real estate/and Economy

[rusthebuss]

With all this bad news on the military front, we need it now more than ever.

No kidding. I knew this would happen one day and Jeb is trying to pic our pockets in more ways than one, we have to replace this gap in our economy! Hopefully exponentially fill that gap as well.

[urbanvb]

With all this bad news on the military front, we need it now more than ever.

Still even our region has been spared the recession that has hit a lot of other areas, mainly high tech ones. We have always faired well and even grown during these times though admittedly I wonder for how much longer. My hope and wish is that as the military factor that we have long enjoyed starts to deflate that the research and higher education sources come to light and fruition perhaps to offset some of the military deflation.

[rusthebuss]

I don't know if we will. I think that its going to be hard to over come the blue collar workforce stereo type of our region.

[PeninsulaKiddo]

I don't know if we will. I think that its going to be hard to over come the blue collar workforce stereo type of our region.

But the area schools are really starting to push hard, and education is the key to the success of a city's workforce.

I'd like to see Norfolk throw in a substantial sum of money into NSU, directly, in the next 10 years. The school has a bad rep and while the RISE center will DEFINITELY begin to overcome that, some new dorms and maybe a signature building would really bring it into the big leagues of local institutes of higher learning.

[rusthebuss]

But the area schools are really starting to push hard, and education is the key to the success of a city's workforce.

I'd like to see Norfolk throw in a substantial sum of money into NSU, directly, in the next 10 years. The school has a bad rep and while the RISE center will DEFINITELY begin to overcome that, some new dorms and maybe a signature building would really bring it into the big leagues of local institutes of higher learning.

I don't know. They get 150% state funding and they waste so much money. I talked to a NSU cop and they had the money to build a police station and all the sudden the money disappeared.The police station is three trailers! I've seen jobs get approved and then no one could find out where the money went. The state needs to crack down very hard on that school financially. I think they really started to by making alot of the jobs state run jobs and not contractors. Lets hope.

Edited November 19, 2005 by rusthebuss

[urbanvb]

In response to Padman's reponse on the military thread:

I wonder sometimes just how much or to what extent the city of VB does agressively try to bring in businesses to our city. At one time it seems they were trying to some degree then the focus seemed to shift more on expanding the businsess that we already have. Realizing we are not Raleigh or Charlotte and also realizing other cities that complete for business, I could imagine this would be no easy task. The last truly big annoucement for jobs entering the city that I recall was Geico but that was quite a few years ago now.

[vdogg]

States economic report

^^^They say that the housing boom is starting to wane some.

[Former Resident of HR]

Uh-oh, looks like the market is starting to sink slightly. The real-estate people in the article are saying things like "It

[urbanfan]

Uh-oh, looks like the market is starting to sink slightly. The real-estate people in the article are saying things like "It

[vdogg]

Va realtors group reports sales leveling off

[vdogg]

Wonder how this one is going to affect us? Housing slowdown to cost 800,000 jobs nationwide

[rusthebuss]

Wonder how this one is going to affect us? Housing slowdown to cost 800,000 jobs nationwide

Well with the condo craze going on now I think that we will be fine. The condo craze will have a leveling affect to our market IMO.

[wrldcoupe4]

Saw this in a times-dispatch article...

"The Virginia Beach/Norfolk/Newport News MSA ranked 30th nationwide and the highest in Virginia with a 22.19 percent home-price increase over the last year and an 84.7 percent increase over the last five years.

According to the report, Richmond home prices have risen 14.65 percent in the past year and 54.85 percent in the last five years, ranking 70th in the country."

http://timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite...s=1045855934868

Edited December 12, 2005 by wrldcoupe4

[vdogg]

Economic outlook for Hampton Roads in 2006

[vdogg]

Ouch, looks like troubled waters ahead.

Prices affecting Virginia housing market

"But the FDIC warns that only 37 percent of Virginia households can afford to buy the median-priced home of just under 280-thousand dollars ($279,942) with conventional financing. Sixty-five percent of Virginia households could afford a home at the end of 2001...."

[Telmnstr]

The quicker it crashes, the better off we all are. Seriously.

And sure enough, just the other day PilotOnline ran some AP newswire article where by they were suggesting people should run out and buy condos, as they will slow down to 10% YOY appreciation. This type of finiancial advice would get a financial planner or stock broker fired + license revoked. Yet realtors make these types of wierd statements all the time.

I wish there were statistics published regarding what types of loans are being made in the local market. Are they ARM/IO/NegAmort? Or mostly fixed?

I welcome the return of affordable housing. I was up in DC this weekend for ShmooCon. Got off the interstate at some Northern VA exit. It was nothing but new home construction, everywhere. It was wild.

Oh yea, the Yield Curve inverted. That is generally a sign of recession.

Speaking of housing, it looks like Granby towers has broken ground. I hope they get past the point of no return. I wonder how many investors / people who have purchased their $500k shoeboxes will try to bail out once all of the housing prices start to slide backwards? Sure they will leave behind a $15k deposit or whatever, but it's happening alot in the other markets.

[hoobo]

Oh, how I missed Doomsday man.

So the inverted yield curve signals recession. You don't think it has anything to do with the U.S. having a much higher long-term bond yield than the EU and Japan and therefore receving a lot of foreign investment from countries like China and India? No, I suppose the huge influx of money has nothing to do with holding the long-term yield down.

And before you run to the overpriced stock market theory, just look at P/E ratios. They're normal not like the late 90s.

And, of course, the requisite crashing of the housing market. Home appreciation has slowed dramatically to near normal levels in hot coastal and western markets like HR and LA. The next hot markets should be those with high job growth like San Antonio and Charlotte. Anyway, this month's Money mag talks about housing and lists some stats from the NAR. VB (which I believe includes all of HR) is compared to Vegas and San Diego. All three had big 2004s with Vegas and SD zooming up 50% in value. Both those markets crashed in 2005 with SD having about a 6% increase and Vegas a 10% increase. VB/HR, though, had a 16% 2005 increase compared to a 25% 2004 increase. That would suggest a steady climb. Considering rising interest rates and a growing stock market, money should shift away from homes and HR should see a home price increase in the mid to high single digits in 2006. The only U.S. market that probably will experience a crash is Vegas.

Then again, I could be completely wrong and both the stock and housing markets will crash. If that happens, see you in the bread line.

[vdogg]

Oh, how I missed Doomsday man.

Yes, I noticed our ray of sunshine has returned as well. . Telmnstr, I must admit, that it concerns me that you take such glee in the impending housing crisis (though it is not all that apparent that there will indeed be a crisis). Is there a reason behind this? In fact, is there anything that you indeed like about the HR area or that you think is positive about the region in general? As pointed out elsewhere, it seems that you may have some issues with our region and i'm wondering if there is anything we can do to help change your perception a bit. It hurts me when someone comes away with such a negative impression of HR. Sure, we have our problems, but it isn't all that bad is it? I'm really interested in your thoughts on this.

[vdogg]

Continued yet tempered growth expected for '06

[vdogg]

This ones for you Telmnstr

There is no housing bubble, says senior economist

A nationally known economist visited Hampton Roads on Wednesday, bringing good news for developers and those charged with growing the region’s economy....

[rusthebuss]

This ones for you Telmnstr

That was too funny vdogg!

[rusthebuss]

The National economy is expected to outpace the Hampton Roads economy in 2006

[vdogg]

The National economy is expected to outpace the Hampton Roads economy in 2006

Just more motivation to decrease our reliance on the military. It was bound to happen sooner our later. Even this war will end and when it does you can expect an even bigger decrease in defense spending than what was just announced. We really need to get the ball moving on diversification of our economy.

[rusthebuss]

Just more motivation to decrease our reliance on the military. It was bound to happen sooner our later. Even this war will end and when it does you can expect an even bigger decrease in defense spending than what was just announced. We really need to get the ball moving on diversification of our economy.

I agree but it just seems that we just can't get it rolling. I guess the stereotype of being a military town is really hurting us. I really think that with the cities not working as a region its hurting us so bad. I wish they would wake up and see how bad this is bring us down. Pride can be a bad thing, especially with economics

[urbanvb]

But actually our region has been pretty resistant to downturns such as the tech crashes and such. I think we will be ok, albeit humming along on a slightly slower scale than usual.