DC Real Estate Weekly: Is the market turning a corner?

LOCAL

Charting the market: Contracts outnumber settlements
Washington Times

It was a good year for sales activity. Buyers and sellers ratified sales contracts on more than 86,000 homes in 2011, an increase of 14 percent over 2010 and the highest total since 2006.

Your next place: A DC castle all your own
DC Mud

Recently remodeled, this four-level beauty has it all. You enter into a spacious living room – if it's cold there's a fireplace right there to warm yourself by. The living room has high ceilings and beautiful rich dark hardwood floors, recessed lighting and tons of windows.

Streetcars are coming and property values will rise
DC Urban Turf

Property values and rents will rise by 5 to 12 percent with "values likely to rise even higher in areas that have many prime redevelopment sites." The report notes that the strongest demand for new and existing development would occur.

DC, Microsoft to create 'digital alliance'
Washington Business Journal

The digital alliance will encompass job creation and training, affiliations with public and charter schools, new technology for the schools, and small business support — notably a $100,000 award from Microsoft to 10 certified business enterprises.

Property values are expected to increase 5 - 12 percent once the DC Streetcar line is fully operational.

NATIONAL

Fed rates likely to remain around zero through 2014
Washington Post

The decision to maintain near-zero interest rates 18 months beyond what was previously planned suggested that Fed leaders are concerned about the slow pace of economic growth, and in a press conference after the announcement, Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said that the central bank was prepared to take more action if necessary to keep the economy moving, though he did not say what those tools might be.

A reprieve for unemployed borrowers
The New York Times

In a forbearance program, a lender agrees not to foreclose on a property and gives a borrower several months’ grace from or reduction in monthly mortgage payments. The programs work best for temporary setbacks, like job loss, health problems or natural disasters.

Housing inventory ends year down 22%
Wall Street Journal

But appearances can be deceiving, and it remains to be seen whether the drop is the beginning of a real recovery or if inventory is being held down by sellers waiting for prices to pick up and banks moving slowly on foreclosures.

Mortgage rates rebound from all-time lows
Inman News

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.95 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Dec. 29. That's up from 3.91 percent last week -- an all-time low in records dating to 1971 -- but still well below the 2011 high of 5.05 percent seen in February.