Real Estate Information

VIRGINIA BEACH -- "It appears that we have a good chance of a 6 cents tax increase for the City of Virginia Beach," acknowledged Mayor Will Sessoms. "I hate to see that, but I do think that in recent years we've been able to hold back through cuts and using reserves to make sure our schools were properly funded and the city properly funded. I don't know that we have an option this year."

City council members met Tuesday for a budget reconciliation workshop as they approach a vote on the upcoming fiscal year's budget next week.

The original proposal offered by City Manager Jim Spore included an increase of 4 cents in the real estate tax rate. Sessoms believes the extra 2 cents is the way to go. It would provide a 2 percent raise for teachers. Because of drops in home assessments, he points out the average homeowner would pay less than he/she did in 2008 and 2009.

"The quality of life in this city is extremely good, and, in my opinion, at a very fair price. We can jeopardize the quality of life in this city by not raising the tax rate. I would rather lose an election in order to make sure the quality of life in Virginia Beach stays up like this," Sessoms said, raising his hand high in the air.

Councilman Bill DeSteph and Councilman John Moss believe the tax rate can remain at the current level (89 cents/$100 assessed value). They offered an alternative proposal Tuesday.

"We're talking about a balanced budget without increasing taxes, without impacting our families' disposable income at all," DeSteph told 13News.

The plan includes many measures including eliminating city executive car allowances, filling public safety vacancies but staggering the hiring of people to fill openings that are not related to public safety, and keeping the budget for new vehicles at $4.1 million which was the amount allotted for the current fiscal year.

"Instead of increasing it to $5.1 million, hold it at the same level. A lot of moms and dads out there are holding their vehicles for another year and just sucking it up. They're not buying the new vehicle this year," DeSteph said.

The budget adjustments he and Moss propose require the school board to defer raises for teachers.

"Next year, do we need to increase taxes? Probably. We either need to cut services next year or increase taxes, one of the two. You can't have both," stated DeSteph. "This year, we don't need to do either."

Five years after the U.S. housing bust sent sales and prices plunging, the spring home-buying season is pointing to a long-awaited recovery.

Reduced prices, record-low mortgage rates, higher rents and an improving job market appear to be emboldening many would-be buyers. Open houses are drawing crowds. A wave of foreclosures is leading investors to grab bargain-priced homes.

And many people seem to have concluded that prices won't drop much further. In some areas, prices have begun to tick up.

Interviews with more than two dozen potential buyers, sellers, brokers, Realtors and economists suggest that confidence is up and that sales will move slowly but steadily higher.

"The biggest challenge that we've had over the past four years is fear — fear that the economy is collapsing, that property values are collapsing, that the world is coming to an end," says Mark Prather, a broker at ERA Buy America Real Estate in La Palma, Calif. "The fear factor is all but gone."

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Renting used to be cheaper than buying. But in many U.S. cities that's no longer the case, as rents continue to climb and home prices stagnate.

While asking prices for homes declined 0.7% over the past 12 months through March, rents rose 5%, according to a report released Thursday by real estate listing site Trulia.

The median rent for all types of rental homes hit $1,350 a month in March, up from a median of $1,285 a month 12 months ago, Trulia reported.

"Buying a home is more affordable than renting now in almost every part of the United States," said Jed Kolko, chief economist for Trulia.

Several metro areas recorded double-digit percentage increases in rental rates.

In Sarasota, Fla., the average rent jumped 12.9% year-over-year, the biggest increase of any of the 100 largest metro areas Trulia surveyed. Miami and San Francisco saw the next biggest increases, with rent hikes of 12.1% and 11.1%, respectively.

The metro areas that sustained the highest rent increases were a decidedly mixed bag, but obviously shared one factor: rising demand for a limited supply of rental units. Read More

Buying is more affordable than renting in 98 out of the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas — even in New York, Los Angeles and Boston, according to real estate company Trulia's rent vs. buy index.

The index is based on asking prices for rental units and homes for sale on the company's website between Dec. 1, 2011, and Feb. 29.

“As rents rise and prices stagnate, homeownership is becoming even more affordable, but rising rents create a dilemma for people who can’t afford to buy yet,” says Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist. “Rising rents make it harder for people to save for a down payment, which is the biggest barrier to buying a home that aspiring homeowners face.”

Homeowners are choosing, or being forced, to rent rather than buy even though the latter is cheaper in key markets Trulia reviewed.

But as they turn to renting, the influx of demand squeezes the nation's rental supply, pushing monthly rents higher.

The nation's median rent stands at $712 per month — well above the average monthly mortgage cost of $647, Paul Dales, senior economist at Capital Economics, recently found. He estimated decreased vacancies in the home-rental market will push average rental rates up as much as 5% by early 2013, compared to 2.4% in January.

As a consequence of less willingness and ability to buy a home, households in rentals will rise by at least 850,000 a year over the next few years, Dales said.

He expects rents to rise at an annual rate of 3% this year and remain at that level in 2013. "Assuming that the economic recovery gains firmer footing, in future years there is scope for rents to rise by around 4% a year," Dales said.

Only in Honolulu and San Francisco is renting often a better deal than buying. However, Trulia points out that buying a home in these markets might make sense for people who plan to stay in their next home for at least five years and can benefit from the mortgage-interest tax deduction.

“Metros where homeownership is expensive tend to have stronger long-term economic growth and little room to build new homes, like Boston and the San Francisco Bay Area, where people expect home prices to increase over time," Kolko says.

"Buying is much cheaper than renting in slow-growing places with high vacancy rates and land to spare, like Detroit and Cleveland, where prices are unlikely to improve much in the future," he says.

Through a streamline refinance program, borrowers with FHA-endorsed loans may find it easier to lock in lower interest rates while paying less in fees.

Beginning June 11, 2012, FHA will lower upfront mortgage insurance premiums to .01 percent and reduce annual premiums to .55 percent for certain FHA borrowers, Carol Galante, acting FHA commissioner, announced today.

To be eligible, borrowers must be current on their FHA-insured loans, which need to have been endorsed on or before May 31, 2009. Read More

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- When it comes to dating, homeownership can be the ultimate aphrodisiac.

In a survey of 1,000 single people, more than a third of women and 18% of men said they would much rather date a homeowner than a renter.

Only 2% of women said they preferred to date a man who rents, while only 3% of men said they would choose a woman who rents over one that owns her home, according to the survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive for real estate site Trulia.

Both sexes also clearly prefer it when there's no roommate in the picture; 62% of survey respondents, men and women, prefer to date singles who live alone. Read More

CoreLogic’s chief economist Mark Fleming says housing statistics and the duration of the downturn to date indicate 2012 may be the year the housing market begins to turn the corner. Read More