31 new construction properties in Charlottesville/Albemarle have had price reductions since 1 May. (link will expire in 2 weeks) Price reductions for new construction have been unheard of in this market for the past several years. Changes are upon us.
1136 properties are on the market in CharlAlbemarle. 341 have had price reductions since 1 January – 30%!
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With the caveat that I’m not in the market to buy just now, the old trail townhomes look nice. But 300k plus for “shared walls” and “outside of town.” That’s just a little much in my opinion (unless maybe it comes standard with all the high end electronics, including a 42 inch wall mounted flat screen home theater system with dolby surround sound, no.. even then that’s a little much).
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Matter of fact, I saw a resale home a month ago (two and a half years old) where the TV was staying – it wasn’t plasma, but it was probably >42 inches. I don’t disagree with you though -$300k for 1600 square feet seems a bit much.
Just for the fun of adding a little additional perspective, for about 18k more (318k total) one could purchase a new 3 bedroom 2.5 bath stand alone home in a nice newly built subdivision in Las Vegas (no state tax and mild sunny weather 9 months out of the year), or a 2bd 2bth condo in Chicago’s North Loop (and other northside neighborhoods). Which is why when I look at a lot of the prices locally I’m still often surprised (though I know I shouldn’t be).
No wonder developers are holding off on building the thousands of houses that have been approved recently (Old Trail,Hollymead, etc.). I’ve heard that not one building permit has been issued for Old Trail….what you see going up out there is “Old Trail Creekside”, the by-right portion of that project. And yet we keep hearing the development community using the lack of affordable housing argument to claim that there are too many planning regulations in Albemarle County….hmmm maybe developers are the source of our affordable housing problem.
Sam –
The numbers released by the County show that in the first quarter of this year, 26 building permits have been issued. I would love to know more about the Old Trail project, though.
The market is changing and the developers build what the market will bear – I don’t think it’s fair to say that they are the source of the affordable housing problem. Blame it on the market and the bureaucracy that delays projects (and the developers who are unwilling to make reasonable concessions to get their projects approved). See FEF’s report for more information on this subject.
Jim
You’re right. It’s not fair to blame it all on the developers, but i don’t buy the FEF report either, which I’ve read. We all know who funds FEF (developers), so it’s no surprise what their conclusions are. Interesting how they didn’t collaborate with Habitat or PHA on this, who are the real experts on affordable housing. So according to FEF we should toss out the Neighborhood Model, allow more housing in the rural areas, allow developers to glut the market, and drive everybodies property values down….great plan. Charlottesville would go from best to worst in a heartbeat.