dr. teresa fuller is the author of "change one thing." for more information about dr. full are's book, you can said to the website at abc2news.com and you'll find the story in our education section. >> coming up at 6:00, a joppa mother is clinging to life and her pib by is dead -- baby is dead. >> if you drive a toyota, you want to drop it off at the dealer. why the automaker is recalling more than a million vehicles. we have that story and more coming up at 6:00. >>> abc2 is in new orleans for the super bowl but we're also trying to help. we teamed up with the st. bernard project to assist two local families. abc2 news don harrison spent the day with them. >> i'm at home -- homework, cooking, trying to take care of business. >> reporter: cassandra scott has a lot on her plate trying to do she can for her family. she has in the lived in her house since hurricane katrina tore it apart in 2005. >> it was horrific. it's look where you see the line on this sheet rock, this is where we have water, so i had mold from down here to up here. so everything was just damaged, gone

dr. stephen fuller from george mason. that is a huge amount coming to the washington area a for every federaral dollar spent. there is a flip side to that. we are seeing a possle downside. didd you notice any concern from the governor o'malley about the fact that federal spending may be decreasing? >> the is no question that the size of the federal governmenent makes us as close as you can n be to being recession-proof. we are buffeted, we are protected in tererms of this regigion whehen the economy goes south. there is some concern that whetr it is the sequeststered that we will see a cut in feral spending this year and ththat will disproportitionately affect t washington area becacause we benefits in general. there are down sides. one is traffic and the other is housing. two hououses in my neighborhooood have gone for it -- sold immediately and it went f for w above the asking. one of them had 19 offers. you almos wonr, is s it back to the previous --re recession days?? >>>> gernor o'malley is n sendining an i increasin

dr. steven fuller of george mason university says sellers have been waiting a long time to sell since the bubble burst back in 2006. and buyers have been waiting to buy. with interest rates holding near record lows and the economy picking up some steam, some just don't want to wait any longer. >> we're still at half speed. this is pent up demand. >> there are lots of people ready to move. they're tired of living with their parents. they need more space because their family has grown over five years. >> reporter: locally prices have been rising for 38 months in a row. the northern virginia association of realtors finds the d.c. area prices in december were up 14% over the same time last year. some neighborhoods are already matching seven-year highs and this could be just the beginning. >> we're looking at three really good years. '14 and '15 are going to abtsunami when it comes to housing sales. >> reporter: the biggest complaint about the local housing market at this very moment, there just aren't that many homes listed for sale right now and that's putting morsellers in the driver's seat