Virginia Beach is one of the top 25 cities in the nation when it comes to energy-efficient buildings, according to the latest list from the federal government.
The Environmental Protection Agency ranks cities by the number of buildings receiving Energy Star certification, and for the first time a Virginia city made it to the top 25.
There were 67 buildings in the Hampton Roads region receiving Energy Star certification, for a total of 6.4 million square feet. Combined, they saved $4.1 million in energy costs.
Washington D.C. also made the list (as it usually does), ranking number 2 for the fourth straight year behind Los Angeles.
As the Virginian-Pilot reported,
Of the 67 buildings certified last year as worthy of Energy Star status, almost half were in Virginia Beach. The rest were scattered throughout the region: seven in Norfolk, seven in Chesapeake, one in Portsmouth, eight in Williamsburg, among others.
The latest forecast from Fiserv (FISV) Case-Shiller predicts home prices will increase by an average of 3.3% annually over the five years ending September, 2017.
Home prices: Biggest winners and losers
"2012 was the first year since 1997 that the housing market has resembled something [close to] normal," said David Stiff, Fiserv's chief economist. "For the past 15 years, home price changes and sales volumes have either been boosted by a bubble mentality or crushed by crash psychology."
From 1998 until the housing bubble peaked in 2006, home prices grew by 5% or more a year. But once the bubble burst, home prices plunged, falling 30.5% through the end of September 2012.
Related: Million-dollar foreclosures
It wasn't until late 2011 that markets started to stabilize, according to Stiff. Between September 2011 and September 2012, average U.S. home prices rose 3.6%. By then, 62% of the 384 metro areas Fiserv tracks reported rising home prices, up from just 12.5% of all markets during the same period a year earlier.
Many of the metro areas hit hardest by the housing bust recorded the biggest price gains during those 12 months. In Phoenix, for example, prices climbed back by nearly 21%; prices in Detroit rose almost 16%; and homes in San Jose, Calif., gained 12.5%.
Values continued to decline on Long Island, N.Y., however, where prices fell 8.1% and where Stiff said the turnaround in median income lagged the rest of the nation by about a year. Brunswick, Ga., also saw declines, down 7.1%, as did Valdosta, Ga, off 6.9%. Both areas saw jumps in foreclosures.
Home prices: Check your local forecast
By the end of this year, Fiserv predicts that home prices will be heading higher in almost every metro area it tracks. Medford, Ore., is expected to gain 9.7% in the 12 months through September, the highest of any city. Other big gainers are expected to be Santa Fe, N.M., up 8.1%, Billings, Mont., 5.5% and Syracuse, N.Y., 5%.
Fiserv expects Miami home prices to sustain a 10.7% loss over the same period, the largest drop of any market. Stiff said a steady stream of foreclosures will keep prices soft in the area during that time.
Related: Zombie foreclosures: Debts that won't die
While Stiff said home price gains will be similar to those experienced back in 1997, he noted the similarities stopped there. Currently, millions of homes are either in foreclosure or on the verge of it.
Otherwise, there are many positive trends in today's market, he said. Prices are extremely affordable and mortgage rates are at or near historic lows. Overall, Fiserv Case-Shiller expects stronger demand for housing, and the sector should, once again, have a positive impact on the economy.
Wolf Trap Light Station, located in Chesapeake Bay three miles offshore, is for sale for $249,500.
Wanted: A homeowner with a dedication to history and lighthouses, willing to do a little renovation and, of course, live in a home set three miles offshore.
Unlike other lighthouses, the Wolf Trap Light Station is not firmly anchored to a rocky shore, but set out in Chesapeake Bay. Built in 1894, the Mathews lighthouse is a "caisson-style" lighthouse, which means it was constructed to withstand ice flows and whatever else the Atlantic Ocean throws that way.
Named for the Wolf Trap Shoal that juts out into the bay, the lighthouse still contains a working light, now operated by computer and maintained by the Coast Guard, explains real estate agent Laura Pierce of ERA Bay Real Estate.
Zillow
The lighthouse home, which has five floors, is a fixer-upper.
"It hasn't been lived in since the last lightkeeper was there," Pierce said. "You would have to restore it and update it, but someone could live there full time or part time."
The home was first offered for nonprofit and historical properties under the Lighthouse Preservation Act, but when the lighthouse didn't receive any offers, it was sent to auction, where a private owner bought it in 2005. The listing also includes a waterfront property on shore, which is used for a landing to go back and forth to the lighthouse.
The home measures about 1,500 square feet, says Pierce, with five floors, including the top floor, which contains the light.
"The final floor is big enough that you can climb up and walk around the light," she said. "It's a big structure."
As an added incentive, Pierce mentions that because the home is a historic property, it's tax-exempt, and the state of Virginia will offer tax credits to the next owner who restores the home to its former glory.
Recent data suggests the housing market is beginning to rebound.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Foreclosures fell in nearly two-thirds of the nation's largest metro areas during the third quarter, according to RealtyTrac Thursday.
With 62% of the nation's 212 largest markets seeing foreclosure activity shrink during the latest quarter, the ongoing decline is yet another sign that the housing market is starting to stabilize. During September, foreclosure activity in 58% of the major metro markets had even dropped below September 2007 levels.
The numbers indicate that "most of the nation's housing markets are past the worst of the foreclosure problem," Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac's vice president said in the report.
Major cities like San Francisco, Detroit, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Diego saw foreclosures fall by double-digit percentages of 26% or more.
Related: Best Places to Live: Where homes are affordable
Stockton, Calif., which saw a 21% decline in foreclosures, still managed to claim the nation's highest foreclosure rate, however. "That foreclosures there are still the highest in the country speaks to how severe the problem was," said Blomquist.
Other California cities in the top 10, Riverside, Vallejo, Modesto, Merced, Bakersfield and Sacramento, all posted year-over-year declines of between 22% and 34%.
Yet, there are still some trouble spots, particularly in Florida.
In Miami, which had the 10th highest foreclosure rate, filings rose 11%. In Jacksonville, foreclosures were up 32%, Palm Bay saw a 64% increase, Tampa was up 43% and Orlando notched a 15% jump.
Blomquist attributed Florida's problems to the after effects of the robo-signing scandal. Florida is a "judicial state," where foreclosures get processed through the courts. Lenders hesitated to bring foreclosure cases before a judge until they were confident their paperwork would stand up to the stepped-up scrutiny that followed the scandal. But now that new rules have been put in place through the $25 billion mortgage settlement, they are playing catch-up.
Of the metro areas with the 20 highest foreclosure rates, all are still in California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida, with two notable exceptions. Chicago saw a 34% jump from a year-ago, and had the ninth highest foreclosure rate. Atlanta had the 15th highest rate. The good news there: Foreclosures fell 20% year-over-year.
Related: Government: We plan to sue more banks
In Las Vegas, filings fell dramatically -- 71% -- because of state legislation passed last year that requires lenders to file affidavits vouching for their paperwork and their foreclosure action against a borrower, Blomquist said.
Many lenders now bypass the foreclosure process entirely in Nevada, working with troubled borrowers to arrange short sales even before filing notices of default. That's not all good news, however. "[For cities like Las Vegas,] it's a shift in the way the distress is handled rather than the distress evaporating," said Blomquist.
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