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King George County

King George Supervisors approve $34 million for schools

King George SchoolsKing George County Supervisors approved a county budget of $62 million. The School Board will receive $34 million, including $1.6 million from the county's reserve fund and almost $1.2 million the school system didn't spend this year.

The supervisors voted last week to equalize the tax rate at 50 cents per $100 of real estate value.

Homeowners benefit from good community schools. Young families shopping for homes tend to concentrate on houses in school districts with good reputations, leading to increased property values in those areas.

Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 2:37pm

FAAR: Housing market improving

City of FredericksburgThe Fredericksburg area housing market is showing signs of improvement. Houses are taking less time to sell -- an average of 83 days this year, in contrast to last year when homes spent an average of 121 days on the market. There is currently a 7.4-month supply of homes waiting to be sold.

Read more at the forum for the Fredericksburg Area Association of REALTORS®

Posted on Friday, April 16, 2010 - 5:02pm

Census shows Washington area population is growing -- mostly in Virginia

Photo by click-seeNew census statistics released Tuesday show the Washington area population growing in spite of the recession -- a sign that the tough economy has impacted it less than other places. Much of the growth is here in the commonwealth, which is good news for the Virginia housing market.

Loudoun County is the fifth fastest-growing county in the nation, with 301,000 residents -- a rise of almost 78% since 2000. Four other Virginia counties rate among the top 100 for growth: King George, Prince William, Stafford, and Spotsylvania.

Both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County grew by almost 7%, and the population in Prince William County was up 5%.

Read more in The Washington Post....

Posted on Thursday, March 25, 2010 - 10:17pm

King George Residents Will Receive Assessments Soon

King George county property owners should be receiving their real estate assessments soon, according to the The Journal Press.

The company preparing the assessments that will go into effect next year said that the reassessment notices should be mailed out on or about October 16th.

"A real estate reassessment has been underway in King George and assessments are being readied by Blue Ridge Mass Appraisals that will go into effect next year.

Blue Ridge’s Mike Didawick recently provided a brief report on his company’s reassessment process to the Board of Supervisors.

Didawick said on Sept. 15 that the county has about 12,500 parcels, adding that the company expected to finish up in the intervening weeks.

With the current economy, will property values go up or down?

Didawick said three weeks ago that there were only about 500 parcels left to process.  But 'it’s too early to say what is going to happen to the values.'

Didawick noted that land values in King George remain strong, adding, 'There may be a slight increase in land values.'

'Raw land is still increasing in value everywhere, including this county,' he said.

Read the full story.

Posted on Monday, October 12, 2009 - 12:30pm

Homes in Fredericksburg Area Sell for Less but More Quickly

Home sales might be down in the Fredericksburg area, but houses are selling more quickly, according to The Free-Lance Star.

Bargain hunters looking for a great deal, and first time home buyers taking advantage of the $8,000 federal tax credit are helping to move houses off the market. This happened in other places in Virginia, and was followed by an increase in home prices after a a few months.

This is good news for all homeowners in the area and a sign that home values may soon be on the rise.

"Home sales are down, and the median price keeps falling, but at least houses are selling more quickly.

Sales fell slightly in August from the previous month in the Fredericksburg area, from 403 to 381, according to data released yesterday by Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. However, the time homes are on the market has gone down markedly.

In the area (Fredericksburg and Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline and King George counties), 195 homes that sold last month through the Multiple Listing Service had been on the market 30 days or less, slightly more than 50 percent of the total. A year ago, only 83 of 353 homes sold in 30 days or less (23.5 percent).

Ernie Dill, Realtor with Coldwell Banker ELITE, said the main reason for quicker sales is "the feeding frenzy among first-time home buyers."

First-time buyers have until Nov. 30 to take advantage of the $8,000 federal tax credit instituted to give the ailing real estate market some relief.

The median sales price continues to fall, however. In August of 2006, the median sales price was $329,000. A year ago, it was $249,900. In July, it was $210,000. Last month, the median fell to $197,520, about 21 percent lower than it was a year ago. That was lowest figure for August since 2002, when the median was $175,000 as the housing boom was starting to take off."

Read full story.

Posted on Thursday, September 17, 2009 - 3:48pm

Chesapeake Bay Reports Call For More Livestock, Runoff Regulations

Last week federal officials released parts of a strategy to restore the Chesapeake Bay, according to NewsDay.com.

The report focuses on expanding regulation of large-scale animal farms and municipal stormwater runoff. Although details of the expanded regulations have not been decided, the report did mention that federal leadership and "muscle" would be used when necessary to enforce the new regulations.

This report, along with others wll be used to develop a bay restoration strategy scheduled for release on Novemeber 9th.

Because many of the Virginia localities in the Chesapeake Watershed are heavily farmed areas, many Virginia property owners could be affected. Property owners will need to ensure that their rights are protected in the process of restoring the Chesapeake Bay.

"Federal officials on Thursday began revealing the building blocks of a strategy to restore the Chesapeake Bay, using federal leadership to encourage states to cut pollution and federal muscle, when necessary, to ensure it happens.

Among recommendations in draft reports from federal agencies: expanded regulation of large-scale animal farms and municipal stormwater runoff, and requirements that increases in pollution be offset by reductions from other sources.

The details, such as how many more animal feeding operations would be regulated, have not been decided, but 'the message here is that there will be, there is a commitment at EPA to increased enforcement and increased oversight of state programs,' EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said Thursday.

The reports will be used to develop a bay restoration strategy, scheduled for release Nov. 9, that was mandated by an executive order issued earlier this year by President Obama.

The EPA said it was working with Chesapeake Bay states and the District of Columbia to establish limits for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediments. States would have to develop detailed plans on how to reduce levels of those pollutants from sources such as farms, highways and lawns. The EPA said it would step in if states don't take sufficient action.

While large operations such as industrial chicken farms would be regulated, the EPA said it would also expand regulation of municipal stormwater programs to include high-growth areas.

Jackson said the goal was to use federal leadership, and 'federal muscle when necessary.'

Agriculture is responsible for about half the pollution entering the bay, but Jackson noted there is more turf grass in the bay watershed than corn acreage and the region is much different from when bay restoration efforts began decades ago."

Read full story.

Posted on Monday, September 14, 2009 - 10:50am

Believe It or Not, Traffic is Getting Worse in the D.C. Region

According to The Free Lance-Star's transportation reported, traffic is getting worse in the Northern VA/DC region. A recent study showed that traffic issues around the country decreased in most major cities, but got worse in the DC area.

Future tansportation plans like high-speed rail could help to alleviate some of the congestion on the major roadways around the DC region.

"NO, it is not your imagination. Traffic really is worse than it was six months ago.

Real-time traffic information provider INRIX found congestion in most U.S. cities stayed level or shrank this year, growing nationwide at only 0.5 percent. That's not surprising, given the recession, high unemployment and a downward trend in vehicle miles driven. Washington, of course, was an exception. Despite all of these factors, traffic in the D.C. area got 9 percent worse.

Another way D.C. is different: The worst travel hour nationally is Friday from 5 to 6 p.m., but in Washington it's Thursday night from 5 to 6.

INRIX considers Washington the fourth-most-congested city in the nation for the first six months of 2009, after Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, in that order. It beat Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Seattle."

Read full story.

Posted on Thursday, September 10, 2009 - 8:40am

July's Housing Numbers are Good News for Homeowners in the Fredericksburg Area

Today the Freelance Star published a story about last month's home sales in the Fredericksburg area. The highlights are welcomed news for homeowners.

-  Total of 2,437 homes were listed on the market at the end of July, the lowest amount since January 2006.

-  With last month's sales pace, there was about a six-month supply of homes on the market, considered a healthy balance between supply and demand.

-  On average, homes were on the market for 94 days before selling, the lowest since September 2006.

-  The average sales price last month was an 8.7 percent discount from the average list price, the lowest percentage since August 2007.

-  Conventional bank financing made somewhat of a comeback, with those loans used to finance 29 percent of the July sales. That's up from 19.5 percent in June, and a possible sign that banks are getting more willing to lend.

"More homes were sold in the Fredericksburg area last month than any July since 2006, but the market continues to be dominated by distressed sales of lower-priced homes.

There were 403 homes sold last month in the Fredericksburg and Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline and King George counties through the Multiple Listing Service, according to data released yesterday by Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. That was down from the past two months but 16.5 percent better than last July.

Of those 403 sales, 155 were foreclosures and 72 short sales, meaning distressed sales made up 56.3 percent of the total."

Read full story.

Posted on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 - 11:17am

New Content Coming

We're adding new content all the time, but it looks like we don't have a story for this area quite yet.

Do you know of a housing-related news story in your area that we should be telling others about? Use our contact form to send us a tip.

Posted on Monday, June 15, 2009 - 12:00am