(RECAP: Lofty home-price growth and tight supply are leading to softening confidence among renters about whether it’s a excellent time to buy a home, according to the latest installment of the National Association of Realtors® Housing Opportunities and Market Experience (HOME) survey. The survey also found that a misconception about how much of a down payment is needed to buy could be unnecessarily delaying some qualified young adults from entering the market.)
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(RECAP: Former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke thinks policymakers should give serious thought to implementing negative rates. The man who led the U.S. central bank immediately before Janet Yellendoesn’t believe his former colleagues should rush to that kind of ultra-aggressive policy stance. But of all the options the Fed has for stimulus, going to negative rates may not be as drastic as it seems, Bernanke said in a blog post this week. Negative rates essentially involve charging depositors to keep money in the banking system, or, as in the case of the fixed income markets, charging buyers of government bonds to lend money. Central bankers in Europe and Japan have instituted negative rates as another means to stimulate their respective economies. More than $11 trillion in global sovereign debt currently carries negative yields. The results have been mixed at best, with inflation levels remaining muted and economic growth sluggish.)
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(RECAP: A picture of what could become of a prominent property in Richmond’s Union Hill neighborhood became clearer last week. The Better Housing Coalition and Walter Parks Architects unveiled design renderings and site plans of their plotted renovation of the 7,500-square-foot Citadel of Hope building at 2230 Venable St. and construction of two apartment buildings beside it. The plans and designs, submitted to the city’s architectural review commission but remain subject to revision, were presented at a meeting of the Union Hill Civic Association, which encouraged the more than two dozen attendees to sign petitions either in favor of the designs or requesting more work. The $8.8 million project is aimed at reviving the derelict property, which Better Housing bought in 2014 for $380,000 from the Temple of Judah Ministries. The project includes several parcels along Venable Street in addition to the 2-acre Citadel property, forming an L-shaped property that designers expect to revitalize the area and decentralize affordable housing options.)
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