AGENT MLS HOME FINDER

The Virginia real estate market continues to reel from the echoing effects of the nationwide economic downturn. Although national signals seem to suggest that a recovery may be in the works, Virginia continues to be in financial trouble. The devastation that wrecked much of the local real estate market had an unabashedly negative impact on the revenue of the state government, as evidenced by an August 19, 2009 article in Forbes. The piece, authored by Bob Lewis of the Associated Press, reported that “Virginia Governor Tim Kaine is lowering the state’s estimated revenue by nearly $1.5 billion for the two-year budget that ends in June…the state’s fiscal problems took root in 2006 when the real estate market collapse began showing up in the taxes collected when deeds, lawsuits, contracts, and wills are recorded.”

The woes of Virginia homes for sale are apparently serious enough to warrant widespread federal assistance, as evidenced by a September 1, 2009 article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The piece stated that “Virginia is hoping that federal dollars will breathe new life into homes and neighborhoods shuttered by mortgage foreclosures in nine localities, including Chesterfield County and Petersburg. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced yesterday that the state is distributing $9.4 million under a federal program created last year to help communities with high rates of home foreclosures during the recession.” It continued to note that “Nationally, Virginia ranks 28th in home foreclosures…However, the number of foreclosure filings rose sharply in Virginia this summer, increasing by 23.5 percent from June to July, compared with 7 percent nationally.”

On the other hand, Dagny Salas of the Washington Post wrote on September 10, 2009 that “In housing market, signs that the sky has stopped falling”. This article continued to say that “Real estate agents and county officials in Northern Virginia say the local housing market is showing signs of stabilizing.” Another sector of real estate in Virginia, however, may be in peril now, according to a September 5, 2009 article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, which found that “The commercial real estate market in the Richmond area is ailing and likely to get worse, much like the rest of the country.”