>> business news from the capital region. this is "washington business report" with abc7 national correspondent, rebecca cooper. >> thanks so much for joining us for a look at business and finance in the washington region. i'm suzanne knedyillingng in for rebecca cooper. we made it through the political conventions and a new rou of jobs numbers. also another w closer to the auautomatic feral spending cuts. weill have more on those topics coming up in our roundtable. but first, a f few minutes on a sector of the economy that have done better here in the capital reregion than most other -- other placaces. real estate.

hohomeowners took a later hit tha those and many of the market, and we were also o quicker to see signs of recovery. joining me isonna evers, a real-estate agent an expert. talk to us s a little bit about what is going on in the market in the washington area. >> we did not get hit like many others in the country but we did see some have been. the dollar volume of sales from the p peak to the bottom of the market fell about 50% that is bibig. prices only fell about 18% in the metro marketplacece. thhugely sucssfupart of the market. it was not so bad. now we are seeing is something a lot of people would not have expected because of all of the foreclosures and this like that and the idea there was going to be a shadow inventory.. now what we are seeing is a tremenendous shortage. how is it in back in the marketple for buyers and sellers?

>> it is tururning a buyer's market into a seller's market, first t of all, which is another thing a lot of ople would not have expected. it is also putting pressure on pres. prices are rising. >> if you are entering the market as auyer these days, what canan youxpect to see as you get out t there and statart looking? >> it depends on where you are looking. but t if youou are in the coastatal metro marketplace, the hot areas, you wilill probably be looking at a competitive situation. let's say thee hot range would be between $300,000 to $9,000 you will probably be in a competitive situation if it is priced correctly andnd shows well. are you seeg it these days? > yes. >> is a back tthe y it was? >> sort of unpredictable. but when you get 26 offers on a town house downtown, imakess you op and think. it shows you how much pressure there is for that kind of producuct. >> and tt isust a town

hoe. could i imagi a well-priced house and a a desirable area. >> we get a hugeoung people dodownto market. prosperous youngng people vying for the condos and wnhouses putting pressure on prices. then whenn we e have a a shortage cause nothing has been n built or developed in n a while, because of thehe recession. >> what areome of the hot areas? downtown peworth. >> petworth and colbia hehts, but this is oldews, and 14th and u, it is h hot. highghly established. but all of these places are reallyoming on strong. then outlying areas. but does that is hot, arlingt is very hot. -- bethesda is hot, arlington is very hot. and the successes flowing outut

word. rising prices and faster sales will bmoving outwaward. >> montgomery coun is a desirable area. a lot of p people looko that when they e lookoking fofor the -- lifestyle they one with schools in suburban field. whats going on specififically y in montgomery countnty? >> there has not been buildin for a long time but it is happening w. builders lookingng for renenovations anbeingg able to find a little piece of the ground where they can build a house. montgomery couounty is still down -- the dollalar value of sales from the peaeak of the mararket july 20 -- 2005, stillown 50%rom where itit was. >> why do you think it is? >> we have not had construction. everybody has pululled back during ththe recession. when you do not have constructionon, you have a lot of peopleoving g into the area and yowillave pressure. we just did not have enough oducts to satisfy the people wanting to buy. fairfax county sort of mirrors montgogomery countand

offerings it h has for famililies. e you seeing the same thing there? >> not quite asuch. but, yes, it is certainly happenening there, too. special closer in. fairfax, you have arlingtgton and alexandria which are very different markets from burke. and in montgery unty bethesda is diffent om going out farther to hagererstown. >> you talk about the significant d dip in dollar m market sales.s. what are you anticipatining thingngs will be like over the next year? do you s theecovery continuing? >> i really do. the real-estatate market is like a big train. it starts going in one d direction and it keeps going in that direction, unless some great big thing happens to change it and turn it around. which of course it happened to us in 2006 and to govern 7 the big mortgage crises s -- in 2006 and 20. >> what impmpact onon mortgage rates

havi? they y should be having more of anan impact. you could praically get money for it -- for free. i cacan tell you t that having beeeen in the reaeal-estate markett for a whole lot of years, 37 years, i cannot bieve that we havee had these lowates oas long. if you have said this to anybod any of the professionals in the marketplace, just t a few short years ago, they would have laugughed. horsrse we cannot t sustain -- we will n never get tthat point -- of couourse, we cannot sustain. we have been living with these tes for years. just not -- >> it is just not drivinghe sales. >> you would think that would be the reas people would want to get out there. if youou are buying a property, 80% of what you are paying is borrowing moneney. you are getting it so cheap it makes the purchase altogether dierent.t. but people still look at prprice rst, last, and metal. >> if you are out there and thinkiking i may wt to sell, i

may want to buy, but i am no surebout the economy, not sure about my persosonal economic ststanding, what advice would you give to people who may be on the fence. is this the time to jump in, or should we wait to perhahaps after th eleion? >> people like to wait, just like the stock market, until prices are up. then they are vevery very sure there is a thriving situatn. obviously it would be smarart to buy nowhen the prices are starting too go up andhey have not reached theirr zenith at a. therwill always be economic uncertainty. thisis has to be one of the safest vensor investment in the world. >> if you are t thinking abobout selling, and maybe you are not su thiis thehe time, but it sounds like it is bause there isis lack of inventotory. >> we are not up to the prices we had in 2005, and i did not know when we will b be there. i ve seen numbers that say we are 80% where we were at the very peak of the market.

bu waiting for that, you have to take other things into consideration. e you also buying in this market? what are your plans for t the future? how ng will you hold oufor an improvement in price? i think it is a personal decision. >> thank youou so much for giving us a snapshoof what thinings are lookg like in the real-estate market. we will be back k after a break with pamela sorensen's take on the business of philanthropy retail, and hospitalality. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] from our nation's networks... ♪ ♪ ...to our city streets... ♪ ♪ ...to skies around the world... ♪ ♪

...northrop grumman's security solutions are invisibly at work, protecting people's lives... [ soldier ] move out! [ male announcer ] ...without their even knowing it. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. we're sitting on a bunch of shale gas. there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪ ♪ it means eaner, cheaper american-made e energy. but we've got to be careful how we get it. design the wells to be safe. thousands of jobs. use the most advanced technology to protect our water. billions in the economy. at chevron, if we can't do it right, we won't do it at all. we've got to think long term. we've got to think long term. ♪ ♪

>> we have been looking forrd to the first post-legged program re on the "washiton business report" because weet to hear frfrom pamela sornenson for a seasonal status report. she tracks things to do, places too and people to know. everybody in the fall seseems lik it is a rebirth time. kids go back to school, much a january 1 isis the beginnining of e year, fall marks the beginning of a season fofor a lot ofeopl >> a absolutely. this season, especially in washington for charirities and fund-raiss, this isuch a very busy season. i actually came with a little bit of a collectction of so of thgreathin going on. >> what are ing toto be some of the big ones? >> we he sneaker mall benefiting the greater washington sports alliae, next week. itit is aut kids anhealth and

education. we have golf, of course, a classic held onn --- falls ptember 25. one of my favori things is l acts as shion presented by tysons galleria becau it combines fashion and the lack of big, benefiting make a wish. a fafashion show people pay to a tendency? >> yes, there is that. but guess whatt, the fashion showow, because it is in t mall, is free. anybody can come and stand over the balcony. lots of actitivities. getting more fashionable and charitable. >> hard to believe. we are always criticized for wearing our sneakers with the business suits. you were talking a a lite bit about the philanthropy aspect of busisiness and how more busininesses are bebecomingng aware of this. out -- why is that? >> i think, you know, washington

isis a lge village, a small town, and we really belie in connecting and networkg and creative collaborations. and businesses know they cannot sueed and be wl looked upon with in the c community without being a part of the community. i believe e as individuals washinonia are very much connected to thahat as well. >> it seems a as though every business has picked a charity whetether lolocal, n national, or internationanal. one do not go without the otother these days. >> absutely. there are so many to choos from. i think the past five years, the susurge of just individuals and prprofessionals and bususinesses becoming more engaged in the washington commumunityhas definitely been on the rise. i t think it has been wonderful thing to a . >> hit one not to miss this fall. >> my goodness, t shakespeare theatre gala and the afterer a

party. at is where you want to be. >> you heard it here first. thank you so mucuch. weook forward to the fall. sounds like a lot of fun stuff. thank you. up next, two big issues for our round table -- jobs and budget cucuts. we will have that after the bridge. but first, the feral hot minute. >> mergers and acquisitions may be as fundamental to government contractors success as getting on the right concept vehicle. the contractors bracing for the government to reduce spending, the question is, how will m&a and to be imcted? will it make it less appealing to buyers? will sellers b be less willing to sell if they attack offers below expectations? despite budget cuts the federal governmement will wi remain an enormousus economy oits own. it spends $500 billion annually on goooods and service. bloooomberg raa story about the size of the mark is wide carlyle group and other private equity firms remaidedited to it. d the recent adopteek -- the recent

acquisition of deltek, it gaered 14 times traing eaings. go to -- i am steve

>> we contie with and a list roundtable to discuss the newsws of the wee jerry gordon as the presiden of the fairfax count economic development authority, and doug ieling is ththee execuve at order of "e washington business journal." job numbers came outriday, 96,000 jobs added to the ecom what does this mea it good news, a and of good news? >> it is a good star it is goodod news clearly, but it is only aob in e bucket. the e unemployment rate still hovers around d 9% nationally and no quite aside locally, but the is certainly a need for more js to be created. >> dingo, they are cstantly putting this in the context of

up -- you kw, that i constantly putting this in the context of the election ---- at this point, withth the ections every month outcome of this is the economy we will be voting on. whetether the jobs report was 200,000 or 5000, at this point, ireally does not matter this is the economy w we have. it i is low anand struggling but this iwhat we are dealing with. >> there will bewo more jobs report comg outut of what the election but clearly people sayi, enouough of the convention, saying, ok, this is it, what we are deali with. they are probably making the decisions now, if theyy are indeed undecidided, based on today's jobs report.t. the ne two w will getost in the banter. >> in this had been a really stellar record for the o obama administration, it would have been great after last night acceptance spepeech and it would have really set the tone probably f the obama camp. but i agree the next o will be not as relevant. >> good things happening in fairfax county inin regards to

jobs. >> we are very founate. noonly do we have the federal vernment aa strg ananchor bubut it is not a predonant compent to o our economymy. we managed to diversify over the last sever years. we are strong in bing's th are not related directly to thehe federal governmnment. 58580,000 jobss aut 106,000 are either directly orndirectl will lead to governmnmentt contraracting. >> do yosee the growth continuing? i do. a lot of the federal contracts providing goodandd service have see the trouble's coming, bubut sequeration, and they have begun to work and things that will be in greater demand and things not related to public contracting as well. >> you brought up sequestratation. we know "the washington business journal" a ton of article about what it ans. a lot of not familiar with the term. talk to us exactly about what it is. >> sequestration is a r result of

the act passed last year as part the dt deal, calling f $1.2.20 trillion of cuts fromhe federal government budget over the next 10 y years. starti with $110 billion in cuts january 2. automatic. it will happen unless congress acts. it will haveve a major, major impact on just about eve business or e every person in the region. >> iss there a specific andd to become a specific sector that wiwill be moreepecicifically in that the questn ofof the law has halflf from domestic agencies and half from defense spending. about $55 billion each. we have a large defense indndustry here in fairfax county and arlington county and the region ich h will getit very veryry hard unless this is changed. >> wi a growtwth happing in fairfax county, with thehe jobs we were talking about, w much is your county and others in the area c concerned about the impt? is there anything you can do to

prepare? >> there is something you cacan do to prepare. local governments can uncover to their businesses and provide them thenforormation they need to know about what are of deral contraracting are actually going toncrease -- thinings lik cybersecurity, persolize medicine and very strong possibility. the other thing you can do is work with companies not relat to federal c conactors to bring thth io commities. that is where we had successes. helton worldwide has brought its headquarters too fairfax, -- hilton worldwide, and bechtel. would have tentacles and other industries. >> talking about diversifificaon and the personal portfolio, , but e same philosophy from local govevernment. >>bsolutely. >> don't want to put yoyour eggs all one basket. is this one of your situations the situations where e it is a game of chicken? an 11th-hour decisision? how much the businesses count on it and just hohold their breath and say this is gng to settle

down afr the election, we will get itettled? >> it is a g game of chicken but you can't count on t that. you can't count on itit not ppening. we are pretty exhausted in this region with congress and the execute branch right now with thehutdown threats and the debtrisis looming over us and what was gng to happen with that. and then the special seubert committee last year. we just keep hanging on d hanging on. and we a are getting tired of it. it is ememotionally exhaustingng the uncertainty of not knong there is going to behesese cuts and layoyoffs january 2. that is what hear fro businesseses, too. if they knknow what is coming and they c clearly define the negative impactsts on the l lines of business, then they can prare. that is what they ar doing to some extent. it is the uncertainty, not owing what to come to happen. it can'tt keep employees, theyy can't extend leases and can't do any of those thin. >> they are not going to invest

in new e equipment by buildings. >> things are kind of grinding to a halt. readady seei layoffs as a sultlt o of people getting furloughed or that kind of action l learning inhe future? >> we hear that that isisoming. a lot of contractors are goingng to be sendnding out pink slips popotentially just as a precaution because there are requirements that they so within a given period of time. if you have a 90-day reirent to notify people of job losses, you do it now. you can always take it back. >> that could have a detrimenental effectof the reta seaeason which is so abhorrent, people goingut and spending mone if th d not feel comrtable -- confnfident that they have a job. it is an important parart of the economy. >> in the "business journal" we did a chain reaction starting with the cut and taken through whatev wt happened with local governments. it could be dastating.

>> a genereral rule of thumb, every jobb created in the primarary sector in the economy spins off anotheher two or threto get the support economy, and so forth. and the reveverse as well, you take away a primary job and you may takeke away two othree. >> jerri gorordon, gordonfrielnad , to what other roundtable we will l be back after the break with our numbeber for the week -- 5. if you do much driving around here, it will not be surprised.

anncr: it'll start out as concrete and steel... but it'll become so much more. a new world-class resort casino in prince george's county. two thousand construction jobs to build it. four thousand permanent, good-paying jobs when it's done. hundreds of millions for maryland schls... real oversight to make sure the money goes... where it's supposed to. but none of it will happen unless we vote for... question seven this november. vote for question seven. and help build a better future for maryland.

that fridge in your tchen may have crossed this bridg your new car probobably rode these rails. that shipment you just received w tracked by satellite. we build and maintain. we invest and innovate. so we can deliver what america needs. this year alone, freight rail companies plan to spend twenty-three billion of their own money, not taxpayer dollars, to build bridges, maintain track, and develop new technologies to keep freight rail and our economy moving. there's a lot riding on these rails.

>> our number of the week -- five, washington's position on a list o of the country that were cities for speech rights. car insuranance.o.oerg -- said it earned its slot becau of the number of speed and that light cameras thetreets new yo city was the worst city list, llowed by los angeles

houston, las vegas and d.c. i'm suzanne kennedy. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, every innovation every solution comes together for a single purpose -- to make the world a safer place. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. o0 c1