October 2014 - Page 2 of 2 - RealCentralVA.com

2014’s 3rd Quarter Market Report – Answering “How’s the Market”?

in Albemarle Charlottesville Market statistics on October 14, 2014 October 17, 2014

Download the 2014 Q3 Charlottesville Market Nest Report.

The #1 Question buyers and sellers ask – whether in the conference room, the coffee shop, beers or dinner, is “how’s the market?” The underlying question tends to be a variation of, “can I sell?” or “should I sell” or “can I buy a home” or “should I buy a home”?

Update: NBC29 had a nice report last night and I’ve immensely glad they used what I’ve been saying for years –

“Get advice on what this report means to them because the report gives them good guidance but every market truly is extremely localized. The Charlottesville and Albemarle areas can vary neighborhood by neighborhood, street by street,” Duncan said.

For example –

I was pulling some data this afternoon on condos in the City of Charlottesville. Comparing 3rd Quarter 2014 with the 3rd Quarter 2013, condo prices in the City were up about 15%. But. Looking at the data a bit more granularly:

In 3rd Quarter 2013, 32 condos sold in the City versus 22 in the 3rd Quarter 2014 … and one sold in this 3rd quarter for $1.1 million, with the next highest sold price being $485k. Compare that with the 3rd Q 2013 where the highest sold price was $450k.

The data matters, but the context – and relevance to your particular situation – matters more.

The below reports will provide some top-level insight, but be cautioned … top level analyses provide just that – insight into what others are able (or unable) to accomplish.

More digging to be done, but for now here is CAAR’s 3rd Quarter Market report.

The Nest Report will be released a bit later today has just been released – Download the 2014 Q3 Charlottesville Market Nest Report.

2014 Q3 Charlottesville Market Report

More Houses Coming Near Mill Creek

in Albemarle Charlottesville Growth Transportation on October 13, 2014 October 14, 2014

I’d call this, generally, good density – in the urban ring, less than 10 minutes (east/south east) to the Downtown Mall, good access to schools and 64, close to stuff (including the coming Wegmans), and (hopefully) meeting the needs of the marketplace. If the end result looks close to the rendering … (and if there are sidewalks and crosswalks).

More infill neighborhoods, so long as the accompanying infrastructure improvements, are examples of relatively good growth.

Charlottesville Tomorrow reports:

The Albemarle Board of Supervisors has approved construction of as many as 100 new homes between Avon Street Extended and Route 20 in the county’s southern urban area.

…

“We live in a county that increases population by about 2,000 people per year,” Cetta said at the board’s meeting earlier this week. “There has been very little change here as opposed to most places in the country that would be filled with subdivisions by now. We want density in these spots, and the county is looking terrific as a result of that.”

What’s an Ello?

in General Real Estate on October 8, 2014 October 8, 2014

Ello. The newest, greatest social network that’s hoping to supplant Facebook. I hope they succeed. But what is it? (what’s this have to do with real estate? Not much, other than real estate is in part a social business, and ello is social.)

I’m still figuring Ello out, and it’s a bit fun to be in the early days of something new and somewhat undefined. The loneliness there is a bit different from the loneliness I perceive on Google +; to me, Ello is new while G+ is tried and mostly failed.

But really, I signed up in order to further my lifelong battle to be thought of as Jim Duncan from Charlottesville rather than Jim Duncan the weatherman.

Some thoughts I wrote on Ello the other day:

NB: My blog is in transition right now; the tag isn’t working, so to read the rest, click here.

Jobs and Albemarle County’s Comp Plan

in Albemarle Growth on October 6, 2014 October 6, 2014

Charlottesville (meaning: Charlottesville + Albemarle) is a great place to live, and a great place to retire as well.

Neil Williamson poses a great question, highlighted by one of the better opening sentences I’ve read in some time:

Rather than asking if they aspire to be Austin or Aspen, the real question for Albemarle County is a choice between fostering job growth or becoming a land of newlyweds and nearly deads?

(great conversation on his FB post, too)

Great question that speaks to the dearth of “ladder jobs” and the need for the County to actively seek out employers who will provide said ladder jobs. For an example of how Albemarle is competitively outmatched, look no further than how they were completely outmaneuvered (so I’m told) in the recent battle to woo Stone Brewery to Crozet.

Part of the conversation should also be – how can the City of Charlottesville and County of Albemarle cooperate to bring businesses that will benefit all parties (residents, local coffers, tourists).

October’s Note: Perspective, Oddities & Inspections

in Albemarle Charlottesville General Real Estate Monthly Notes on October 2, 2014 October 3, 2014

The subscription-only monthly note from Jim Duncan/RealCentralVA – this month, the Charlottesville real estate market, perspective & thoughts on home inspections and the always-popular roundup of the previous month’s best blog posts from RealCentralVA and RealCrozetVA.

Two clicks here and you’ll have the note next week when it’s published.

One change that I’ve made recently: I’m publishing the archives a few months after they’re published. If you’re curious, you can read 2013’s notes, and I think I’m going to publish them all here on RealCentralVA in December. (me? I tend to print them to edit them)