Posts tagged 22902

When Evaluating the Charlottesville Real Estate Market, IGNORE National Data

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Take your lede : – Home sales up 14% in Charlottesville and Albemarle year over year. – Home sales up 19% in Charlottesville MSA year over year. – Foreclosures continue to climb in Charlottesville and Albemarle. – Questions abound regarding second half of 2010; where will we find the bottom of the market? – If you have questions about or would like more detailed analysis, please contact me.

…Simple (though notsoumuch in reality) What I’m reading: – Harvard’s State of the Nation’s Housing Market (PDF) and listening to an excellent podcast with Nicholas Retsinas , Director, Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies . (did you know that there was an exhibit at the Smithsonian on McMansions ?) – Core Logic’s Home Price Index Report for April 2010 – Virginia’s Housing Price Index, for single family homes year-over-year, is up 6.5%; for single family homes excluding distressed properties, is up 3.6%. Virginia is one of the five best states for year-over-year price appreciation excluding distressed sales .. but mostly that’s irrelevant in my opinion as the bulk of those sales are most likely comprised of Northern Virginia sales. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s House Price Index for First Quarter 2010 The FHFA (formerly OFHEO) say that in the Charlottesville MSA house prices have dropped 6.98% year over year, 1.86& in the 1st Quarter 2010, and have appreciated 12.68% over the past 5 years .

… Home Sales are Up 19% year over year in the Charlottesville MSA: Sales are up in Charlottesville MSA Year over year.jpg Homes sales are UP 14% in Charlottesville and Albemarle : Home Sales UP in Charlottesville and Albemarle - 2010 versus 2009.jpg One point: Charlottesville’s Unemployment is lower than the national average. Charlottesville's Unemployment is lower than the national average. Prime example of the irrelevance of national, aggregate housing data, which is good only for political talking points and respective agendas: Foreclosure starts for the nation and Charlottesville and Albemarle: National foreclosure data, courtesy of the HUD Scorecard, using RealtyTrac data: National Foreclosure data - Mildly irrelevant For Charlottesville, using RealtyTrac : Charlottesville Foreclosure Rate and Foreclosure Activity Information - may 2010 For Albemarle County, using RealtyTrac: Albemarle County Foreclosure Rate and Foreclosure Activity Information - Trends Albemarle County Foreclosure Rate and Foreclosure Activity Information - May 2010 What have median home prices done in Charlottesville over the past five years?

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Search for Homes in Charlottesville However you Please

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I find that my clients are all different, and they all like to search for homes in their own way. With that in mind: RealCentralVA.com – Map-based, search by multiple school districts (ie: Crozet & Brownsville Elementary Schools) filter by short sale, Walkscore, foreclosures, and many other ways, such as Days on Market. FranklyMLS.com – Fast, and is a favorite of many of my clients. … How do you like to search for homes in Charlottesville ?

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Charlottesville Short Sales and Buyer Agents’ Responsibilities – Part 2

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Fourth – Prepare our buyer clients for what they may run into. (more to come on this) What’s a Charlottesville buyer to do in this market with more and more short sales? – Be patient. – Be aware that there are some things that neither you nor your agent can control . – Be informed . – Be qualified.

…Maintain confidentiality of all personal and financial information received from the client during the brokerage relationship and any other information that the client requests during the brokerage relationship be maintained confidential, unless otherwise provided by law or the seller consents in writing to the release of such information;

…The second section is a protection for the Buyer, should the Seller find out in the course of the transaction that they cannot pay off all indebtedness and need to revert to a Short Sale transaction. Much like how good Charlottesville Buyers’ Agents should be researching a property’s true continuous days on market (quote from a client regarding Days on Market, “The MLS lies” 🙂 ) [ Realtors gaming the MLS ] – Buyers’ Agents should be doing extreme due diligence.

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Charlottesville Real Estate Data Nuggets

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Looking at the weekly real estate data reports for Charlottesville and Albemarle, two points jump out: – Percent of Properties with Price Decrease 26 % – Percent Relisted (reset DOM) 9 % I’m not 100% confident with 26% having price decreases, but it feels about right. The relisted number feels right too – this is the percent of homes that have come on the market for a second or third time … … Download them all for yourself below or sign up to receive weekly automatic (spam-free) delivery . Charlottesville Single-Family Homes Charlottesville Attached Homes and Condos Charlottesville and Albemarle Single Family Market Update Charlottesville and Albemarle Attached Homes and Condos – real estate market update

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City Neighborhood Liaison – Needed?

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The City of Charlottesville is contemplating adding a “neighborhood advocate” to liaise with City neighborhood associations . … I vote for her: “It’s a bad use of city funds and there are too many other programs and efforts that I think the city should be involved in,” said Adena Imlay, president of the Meadowbrook Hills/Rugby Neighborhood Association. Imlay said creating another layer of bureaucracy in local government to work with neighborhoods is not the answer. … I’m curious – why can’t people who want to be involved call the city and advocate for themselves ?

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Check Out Crime in Charlottesville

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Is one of the most important questions my buyer clients ask. … This is the perfect opportunity for the County of Albemarle and City of Charlottesville to cooperate, share, partner, whatever. … For buyers looking in the City of Charlottesville – search for crime by neighborhood, address, intersection, bus stop, Charlottesville City parks … at Charlottesville Crime View . Thanks to WCAV for the report .

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