dysfunctional layout of their physical environment — the separation of land uses; the physical disconnect between houses, offices and stores built in pods; the stringing of those pods along feeder and arterial roads — that they take it for granted…. What is a “successful” blog?A smart growth book and review.There is more to the debate over sprawl than just anti-Wal-Mart hysteria and anger over traffic…. The decentralizing trends in living and working patterns, first in suburbs and later in exurbs, have been deeply problematic for the Democratic party and the American left. So have the decentralizing patterns of the American economy in the last several decades, and the ongoing decentralization of information and media.Same with framing an argument as “left -v- right.”… That’s why I read both sides as often as possible and read between the lines. New math on homes.Calculating what to pay for your home.You look at the “comps,” of course. A real estate agent will tell you what comparable houses in the neighborhood sold for. Web sites like Zillow.com or HomeValues.com value homes the same way.
Date Archives April 2006
Market Update for March 2006
Followed closely by “expectations.”In the CharlAlbemarle area -Active in February 2005: 279Active in February 2006: 413% increase: 32.45%Contingent: 29.08%Pending: -23.73%Active in March 2005: 412Active in March 2006: 472% increase: 12.71%Contingent: 12.83%Pending – -123.20%There seems to be a fairly safe correlation between the % increase in Active and Contingent properties. The number of Pending properties causes some concern, if only because I am uncertain as to why the discrepancy exists. A likely cause is user data entry error.– For the entire Market Area –Active in March 2005: 646Active in March 2006: 770% increase: 16.10%Contingent: .31%Pending: -98.17%More properties on the market means that buyers are more selective of which property they intend to buy…. heretofore how much a Seller paid for their house and when has been mostly irrelevant with regards to fair market value…. Not to beat a dead horse, but Sellers are going to have to alter their expectations and their efforts to sell in order to achieve top dollar.Fair market value: What a ready, willing and able buyer is willing to spend on a property. All the numbers and statistics in the world will not change the fact that if a buyer feels a property is worth X$, then that property is worth X$ to that buyer.Caveat: The increase in numbers can be partially attributed to the large number of condo conversions. Official MLS numbers should be released shortly.Speaking in code: The Pending Home Sales Index,* based on contracts signed in February, slipped 0.8 percent to a level of 117.7 from an upwardly revised index of 118.6 in January, and is 5.2 percent below February 2005. January experienced a strong upward revision from a preliminarily reported index of 116.3 and was higher than the December reading of 117.6; additional data from the Northeast showed that region to be stronger than earlier believed.From NAR; thanks to Inman for the hat tip.For the previous month’s market update, go here.
Wine additions
I have added a few links in the sidebar for three of the main wine shops in the CharlAlbemarle area. There are more, but I have personally found these three to have excellent selections and knowledgeable, friendly and most importantly un-pretentious. Buying and drinking wine should be a fun experience – there is a lot to learn, and these have proven to be great resources. At least two of them have weekly newsletters as well.
Working on the numbers
I have been running the March inventory numbers for the CharlAlbemarle and surrounding area … it’s up. Way up. More later today.