Headlines: Time to refi is now; 34% cheaper to buy versus rent in DC
Here’s a look at what’s happening in real estate in the District of Columbia and beyond.
A lot of the first-time homebuyers purchased over the last three to four years, whether using FHA as their vehicle with a lower down payment, or conventional with a lower down payment, but they also had mortgage insurance, so while their interest rate may be 4 percent or 4.25 percent, when you factor in the mortgage insurance that they’re paying, it’s relatively much higher. — CNBC
Micro-units, not large condos, coming to Dupont Circle
Valor’s year-old plan to convert a portion of a Dupont Circle commercial building into eight luxury condominiums was short-lived. The developer has returned to the Board of Zoning Adjustments with a revised pitch: 21 microunits. — Washington Business Journal
Buying 34% cheaper than renting in DC Area
Trulia’s chief economist Jed Kolko provided UrbanTurf more fine-grained data that shows how the payoff from buying over renting can vary depending on where in the DC area you live. — Urban Turf
DC more expensive than New York? It’s complicated
In the D.C. region, the study found that households spend an average of $28,416 annually on housing, compared with the national average of $17,030. New Yorkers spend $24,187, and San Franciscans spend $25,366. — Washington Post
No, Washington is not more expensive than New York City
To be sure, D.C. is not cheap. But there’s almost no measure by which it makes sense to consider it more expensive than New York City. — Wall Street Journal
Gallaudet plans “town gown neighborhood” near Union Market
The project is viewed as an opportunity for the nation’s leading university for deaf and hard of hearing students to shape some of the industrial land surrounding its campus into a “town-gown neighborhood” designed to accommodate its student body and better integrate the school with the city around it. — Washington Post
What’s in the residential pipeline on H Street?
In total, more than 1,076 units are slated for the H Street Corridor. Here is a rundown of the 12 residential buildings in the pipeline. — Urban Turf