Greene County Real Estate Market Update – August 30 2011

in Greene Market statistics on

What does this mean? It means simply that the Greene County real estate market – and Greene County itself – is becoming more self-sufficient and independent of Charlottesville-Albemarle (CharlAlbemarle). People are choosing to buy and live in Greene County and don’t have to commute into the City of Charlottesville or Albemarle to work. I’d *love* to see updated commuting data from the US Census.

This is just a reasonably high-level overview of the Greene County real estate market. If you’re curious about what’s happening in your location in Greene, or are currently searching for homes for sale in Greene, please feel free to contact me anytime with questions.

Sold listing volume is down just a bit in Greene County year over year:

.

Read More

Shopper’s World Continues to Decline

in Charlottesville Growth on

Good news: some banks are lending again.

Rivanna Plaza, in front of Kegler’s on 29 North, will take advantage of the 50,000 cars passing every day, bringing a Dunkin Donuts, a day care chain, Ragazzi’s and more.

No word yet on any traffic improvements to alleviate what presumably will be a few more turns in and out of the new shopping center.

Not so good news: Shoppers World continues to decline and traffic is likely to get more congested on 29 North.

Read More

Charlottesville MSA Real Estate Market Update – August 2011 – How This Matters to You

in Albemarle Charlottesville Fluvanna Greene Market statistics on

Pending Contracts in the Charlottesville MSA are UP, year over year. But if you’re looking to buy a home in the Charlottesville area or if you’re trying to or thinking about selling, this number doesn’t matter to you one bit. What matters is – what is the market doing on my street? In my neighborhood? In my elementary school district? What happens at the top level – national, state, MSA, locality – is darn near irrelevant other than from a psychological point of view.

Here is why the top numbers don’t matter … there are extremes and outliers everywhere; today’s example:

A house just went under contract in the Bentivar neighborhood. A first look says that the house came on the market at $595k and went under contract in 6 days. If that house sells for $595k, the MLS data will show that it sold for 100% of its asking price. Which isn’t accurate.

  • The house first came on the market in February 2010 for $1,100,000.
  • Reduced to $835,000
  • Came back on the market at $833,000
  • Reduced to $735,000
  • Came on the market for $595,000
  • Went under contract quickly.

Look beyond the numbers presented to you. Here and everywhere. Good real estate professionals don’t try to hide the information, but it takes work to discover what’s actually happening.

.

Read More

Goodbye, 0-5 Buyer -OR- Finance a House or an Education?

in Market statistics on

We’re in the midst of a reset in the real estate market cycle. Every market is different, and we’ve been seeking “new normal” for quite some time.

Here’s part of the new normal, not just in the Charlottesville real estate market, but across society as well. (search for “new normal” on RealCentralVA for context)

The buyers who would buy and sell in a zero to five year timeframe are gone. In other words, the stepping stone of the “buying a home” lifecycle has been pushed further.

First time homebuyers, when they do choose to buy, are buying at later points of their lives – once they’ve established themselves in their careers* and found their mates if they so choose, and have determined that their lives – kids on the way, jobs … some sort of stability.

Many of these first-timers have either seen their friends and families decimated by the housing market or have experienced it themselves in selling or trying to sell – either normal transactions, short sales or foreclosures.

…

A report last fall indicated that student debt in America had reached $850 billion, nearly $25 billion more than the nation’s consumer credit card debt load.

Homeownership is a long-term decision. Given the choice – which are the next (current) generation of homebuyers going to choose –

Higher education or a home of their own?

The new normal, for the foreseeable future, is one without the 0-5 year buyers, one with an extended lifecycle of homeownership. And you know what? If we can just get the government to get the hell out of the way – stop making secret loans to banks, stop toying with being landlords, stop catering to the banks, stop trying to manipulate mortgages, and let the market work.

Read More

Earthquake in Charlottesville – 23 August 2011

in Off-topic on
I saw the tweets from DC about earthquake, then 15 seconds later felt it in NYC. Social media is faster than seismic waves!

Alright, how many of you did what you were supposed to do in an earthquake?

The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program states that we just experienced a 5.8 magnitude earthquake.

1 – Twitter was BY FAR the best way to learn about the earthquake.
2 – Learning from previous experience, I remembered that texting is a better option than calling.
3 – Thanks, Comcast and Dominion Power and Verizon. I never lost cable, internet, power or cell phone service.
4 – I’ve always known we were due for an earthquake, but hadn’t felt one that big before.
5 – Where were you?

Read More