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Innovation, capital key to rural growth, Barkin and Warner say
There’s hope for economic growth in rural areas despite their challenges, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President and CEO Tom Barkin and U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said Wednesday during the Fed’s 2023 Investing in Rural America conference in Roanoke. Rural areas could overcome economic development challenges, particularly housing shortages and lack of broadband access, with innovation, [...]
$35.8M Newport News affordable housing redevelopment begins
The BLVD Group has acquired and started renovations on the Aqua Vista Apartments in Newport News, the Los Angeles- and Dallas-based company announced Tuesday. BLVD expects development costs, including the property purchase and “soft costs” like engineering and design, to total more than $35.8 million. A BLVD-affiliated limited partnership, Aqua Vista LP, bought the property […]
Amazon housing fund director resigns
Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Housing Equity Fund Director Catherine Buell is leaving the e-tail giant. Housing Equity Fund Principal Senthil Sankaran will be the interim head of the fund team, according to an Amazon spokesperson. Buell joined Amazon in 2020 as head of community development for Amazon in the Community and became director of the e-tailer’s […]
Va. home sales down 20% from a year ago
Virginia home sales were down 20.3% in February compared with the same month last year, marking the 15th consecutive month of declining sales, according to a Virginia Realtors report released March 21. Home sales in the commonwealth last month totaled 6,505, a decrease of 1,655 sales from February 2022. The Northern Neck and parts of […]
Hampton Roads housing market appears to stabilize
The Hampton Roads housing market appears to be stabilizing, according to a new report from the Real Estate Information Network Inc. (REIN). “We expect 2023 to be similar to pre-pandemic years where inventory increases in the spring and summer, and as long as buyers have inventory to choose from, they’re going to shop for homes,” […]
Housing reform bills saw mixed success in General Assembly
Legislative efforts to tackle spiking eviction notices, housing and utility costs were mostly shot down during the Virginia General Assembly session. Almost 193,000 eviction filings have been made in Virginia since March 2020. The monthly-updated data comes from the Princeton Eviction Lab, a group that makes nationwide eviction data public to increase awareness about housing, […]
Ups and downs
Compared with the previous two years, 2022 was less of a roller coaster for the housing market in Virginia, but it still presented challenges for many would-be first-time homebuyers. As inflation rates grew, peaking at a 40-year high of 9.1% in June 2022, the Federal Reserve increased interest rates rapidly. Inflation fell to 6.5% in […]
Sadler Square subdivision in Glen Allen to start sales in 2024
Construction on Sadler Square, a 128-home development in Glen Allen will begin this year, with homes ready for sale in 2024, Vienna-based real estate developer Miller & Smith announced mid-February. The 54-acre development is located at 4350 Glasgow Road near the Short Pump/Innsbrook Interstate 64 interchange on West Broad Street. The single-family houses will be […]
Sentara invests $11M in Newport News revitalization
Sentara Healthcare invested $11 million in Newport News’ Marshall-Ridley Choice Neighborhood revitalization initiative, the Norfolk-based health system announced Wednesday. Sentara is providing $11 million in loan financing support for the project’s second phase, which focuses on the former Ridley Place neighborhood. The project is part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Devel[...]
Fed’s Fifth District economy expands slightly
The economy in the Federal Reserve’s Fifth District (a multistate region including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland) has expanded slightly since October, according to the latest edition of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, released Wednesday. Published eight times per year, the Beige Book is based on anecdotal information about economic conditions g[...]
Virginia 500 Spotlight: Catherine Buell
Director, Amazon Housing Equity Fund, Amazon.com Inc. Arlington County WHAT WOULD A COMPETITOR SAY ABOUT YOU? Much like the Roomba vacuum cleaner, Catherine is “pleasantly persistent” and doesn’t give up. She will keep at it, work to find a middle ground and show results. WHAT I’VE LEARNED: Don’t forget to have fun along the way! Life […]
Va. home sales saw sharp drop in October
Virginia home sales in October decreased by 30.2% from the same time last year, the largest year-over-year sales decrease in more than a decade, according to a Virginia Realtors report released this week. In October, 8,828 homes sold in Virginia, 3,828 fewer than in October 2021. Nationally, home sales declined for the ninth straight month […]
