(RECAP: As stores start to open at the new 5th Street Station, people will be able to get there to shop or work via a new Charlottesville Area Transit bus route. But some are wondering if older shopping centers along CAT’s other routes can be redeveloped to give more people the option of living in a place where they have another transportation choice. “Many women with children who are required to work and want to work can’t work because they can’t get to a job in the prescribed period of time to get there,” said Anne Linden, an Albemarle County resident who faced that issue as a single mother of four children. Linden said the opening of shopping centers such as Stonefield and 5th Street Station has caused others to decline. “I know that there are huge empty spaces in some of the malls,” Linden said. “Some of the space could be used for affordable housing and even some child care.”)

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(RECAP: Buyers in Northern Virginia face a limited supply of homes, particularly for first-time buyers, says Nela Richardson, chief economist for Redfin real estate brokerage in Washington. Unlike suburban Maryland, where prices vary widely between Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, prices in Northern Virginia are relatively high everywhere. The highest prices are typically in neighborhoods closest to the District such as Arlington, McLean and Alexandria. Overall in Northern Virginia, median home sale prices from January through August 2016 rose just 0.5 percent to $432,000 from $430,000 in that same period in 2015.)

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(RECAP: Rising mortgage rates, overheating home prices, nothing for sale, pre-election jitters — the list of reasons to lose confidence in the housing market is growing. In fact, the share of consumers who reckon now is a excellent time to buy a home fell 5 percentage points in September in a monthly housing sentiment survey (known as HPSI) by Fannie Mae. The only drop that was larger was the share of consumers who reckon mortgage rates will fall. Pending home sales, which represent signed contracts to buy existing homes, have fallen for three straight months, according to the National Association of Realtors. Housing demand is strong, but supply is historically weak and getting weaker, as fewer homes come on the market in the fall and winter.)

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