(RECAP: There is a lot of optimism about the Virginia real estate market, according to a new poll conducted by Roanoke College. The results were a reversal of the negative attitudes about the market seen in many previous polls. Still, buyers and sellers reported increased caution about future markets, citing concerns about rising mortgage rates and real estate prices, the poll said. Optimism about real estate conditions was up 6 percent since the last quarter’s survey, with close to 32 percent of respondents feeling more optimistic than pessimistic about the market.)

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(RECAP: All eyes are on economic data as the country waits to see if the Federal Reserve will raise the federal funds target rate later in June. A rate hike is widely anticipated by economists and analysts; the latest economic data reported by the Fed, but, may place the rate hike on hold at least until late July. According to the Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book released on Wednesday, most of the Fed’s 12 Districts reported only modest economic growth from April through mid-May, the period covered by the Beige Book.)

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(RECAP: Early last year, the Obama Administration shook up the housing world when it ordered the Federal Housing Administration to cut its annual mortgage insurance premiums by 50 basis points, from 1.35% to 0.85%. The effect of the cut was widespread and significant, as the FHA’s mortgage insurance business exploded in 2015 and the FHA really reached its Congressionally mandated threshold of 2% on its flagship Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund years ahead of the FHA’s own predictions. But is the FHA about to do it again? That’s the scuttlebutt around Washington, according to analysts from Compass Point Research & Trading, and the noise surrounding another cut is apparently getting louder.)

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