Some cities are finally recovering from recession.  The top five metros like Washington / Arlington/ Alexandria, D.C., Austin/Round Rock, Texas, Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington, Texas, Minneapolis/St.Paul/Bloomington, Minn-Wis and Houston/Sugar Land/Baytown, Texas are some of the areas that are surviving the downturn in real estate because they specialize in industries that are relatively insulated from economic volatility.  Federal and state jobs all but guarantee the health of a local economy, and nowhere is there more government-related work than in Washington.

Washington has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country at 6.2% and its output amounts to 362.3 billion which is three times…

Last week, economic and housing forecasters came out with positive projections for the real estate market.  According to chief economist for Freddie Mac, Frank Nothaft, the real estate will have a very steady, quarter to quarter growth patterns with no double- dip mini recessions and only minor increases in interest rates.

The U.S. economy may expand to 3.3-3.5% range as measured by the Gross Domestic Product through 2011.  Nothaft forecasts 5.6% rate by the end of the year for the 30-year mortgage rates.  This figure is up from today’s rates but still low and not high enough to seriously constrain housing…