The first cycle is comprised of those sellers who have purchased in the past five years who have either bought and sold a couple of times already or have watched their friends and neighbors buy, sell and hit the housing lottery…. These are the short-timers.The second cycle is the one that will show itself after this first cycle has run its course. This cycle is the one that will most accurately determine true market appreciation rates for the housing stock in the Charlottesville/Central Virginia market…. These sellers may be comprised of those who purchased properties primarily as places to live, a reason to purchase that has seemingly been lost over the past five years…. This timeframe is short enough to not be irrational and long enough where our culture’s relative new-found transience can play itself out. My mother, who has been a Realtor for 20+ years, used to tell clients that if they were to purchase a home and sell it three to five years later and not lose money, then they had done very well for themselves. Quite a different perspective than that which we have witnessed over the past cycle, huh?We are returning to a time when the housing market is less a liquid asset and more of a long-term assets with as much intrinsic, intangible value as financial. Short-time buyers and sellers will find their way out of the market as will the short-time Realtors.
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Helping those who help us
To:Area FirefightersArea Law Enforcement OfficersArea TeachersIn appreciation for the work you do for the people of the Charlottesville/Central Virginia area, I am now offering an incentive for you to help you with the sale of your home and/or the purchase of your new home.I will discount my normal commission for you on the house you are selling to help you save on the sale of your home. Whether you’re selling a home or buying your first home, I will offer you a rebate on my commission I earn on the purchase of your home and apply it toward your closing costs to help you at closing.There are no strings attached. While I have never been in the public service, I have friends and family who have benefited from your service and expertise. I appreciate the hard work you put into your careers and know civil servants don’t always make the highest salaries for the work they do.Please call or email me with any questions. 434-242-7140 CAAR’s Workforce Housing Fund is one aspect of the community’s recognition of this crisis. Hopefully my little drop in the bucket will help.From the “Credit where Credit is Due” department: I was inspired by Marty Martin’s post.
Regional transit authority inches forward
Charlottesville Tomorrow has the report and podcast of the MPO’s creation of a Regional Transit Authority…. By “regional,” they mean “Charlottesville” and “Albemarle” and not “UVA.”… They are the only ones who can build a damn road. Why aren’t they at the table?Julia Monteith, Senior Land Use Planner, representing the University of Virginia … indicates the University is taking a wait and see approach since past attempts to have a regional authority have not moved forwardYou can’t blame them. To be a true regional system, it would have to include the other members of the MSA. Look at where the workers come from – 6,000 from Fluvanna…. 2,100 from Waynesboro area.But hey, it’s a start.
Charlottesville is #12
Charlottesville (CharlAlbemarle or the Charlottesville MSA) is now ranked as the 12th best in the “Small Metro Areas” category in the 2006’s Best Cities for Relocating Familiesâ„¢ study. This may be an important “study” in that it appears to be targeted towards businesses relocating their employees. From the people behind the Best Places rankings and two relocation companies.”A number of measurable features can affect the ease with which a family can move to a city and the ease of settling into a new life there,” according to the announcement. “Traditional factors such as commute times, tax rates and average home cost and appreciation are combined with more diverse cost of living and quality of life variables — like the ability to qualify for in-state tuition, the service quality of local utilities, auto taxes, and per-capita volunteerism.”Frequently I work with people who move to the area “because of all the great press about Charlottesville.” This study, marketing to the companies who will be moving their employees, may very well help bring better jobs and people to the area. Never having been to Fargo, ND and my only real “knowledge about the place being the eponymous movie, I can only wonder why they are ranked two spots higher than CharlAlbemarle.I would love to see more of the actual data in addition to the final rankings. A hat tip to Inman (subscription required). The press release is here (pdf).
The Changing market.
The past several days have been interesting, with much discussion off-line (they do happen, you know) about the effects of the changing real estate market. The Wall Street Journal has an excellent summary of what some of these changes mean for different segments of the market. The changing dynamics have implications for a wide variety of players in the real-estate market…. People looking to enter the market for the first time are being told not to overly stretch their finances because rising home prices may no longer bail them out. Employees who are relocating are being advised to steer clear of new subdivisions where competition from brand new construction could make reselling soon difficult.Such strategies aren’t entirely new, but they had fallen from favor in many markets as home sales heated up early in the decade…. The number of homes for sale has climbed about 30% over a 12-month period, reaching its highest level in nearly 10 years, according to the National Association of Realtors. The group recently predicted sales of existing homes would drop 5.7% this year versus a 4.4% gain in 2005.Let me be clear – I don’t foresee the market in the Charlottesville/Central Virginia market tanking, prices dropping, or any of the other well-worn clichés being bandied about in the media. I have said it before and I will say it again – my crystal ball shows that there will be a decrease in the rate of appreciation of houses.
Affordable housing in C’Ville
C-Ville reports:Councilor Kevin Lynch foresees that with more precise tax-relief in its toolbox, the City will be able to target “low- and moderate-income homeowners who have seen the most rapid appreciation in their properties,†rather than enacting blanket tax-rate relief as Council did in 2005 when the property tax rate was cut by 4 cents to $1.05.This kills me. I wrote about this bill last month before the eminent domain language was removed. I don’t even get this -Harumph, says Lynch: “The Free Enterprise Forum and the realtor group are always in favor of affordable housing and preventing any legislation that would block it until someone asks them to provide it. Then they’re nowhere to be seen.â€Â Realtors are in favor of preventing affordable housing legislation?… Governments have proven themselves time and again to be incapable of running an efficient organization. There is seemingly little direct accountability in politics, and plenty of incentive to create endless layers of bureaucracy and thus, job security for said politicians and staff. How does one explain the CAAR Workforce Housing Fund if Realtors are against affordable housing?
“Frothy” no more
That was fast. Way back in August, Charlottesville was one of the more “frothy” real estate markets, per USAToday.