Charlottesville's Real Estate Blog. Buyer &/or Seller Representation, Real Estate News
Maybe, says Forbes. I’ll be publishing local perspective this week.
Or, we could be a long way from bottom.
Either way, I’ll let you know with authority and confidence in 18 months where we are today. The only way to know is with sufficient hindsight.
Put simply – buyers want to buy. And a lot of them are tired of waiting.
Categorizing the Charlottesville real estate market:
– 20% distressed
– 20-30% is overpriced
– 20-25% is stuff that no one wants to buy
– 20% is in great condition, priced really well and is selling in under 60 days. *
Right now* there are 2122 homes on the market. 410 are currently under contract; 177 (43%!) have continuous days on market of under 30 days and 219 (53%) have CDOM of under 60 days.
So far* in 2011, more homes have sold this year in Charlottesville and Albemarle than sold last year in the same timeframe. Who knew?
Listen to the podcast of my discussion with Coy Barefoot as we look back at the 2011 Charlottesville real estate market and a look forward to 2012.
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I’m not saying that the depression is over, but the fact that more homes have sold in Charlottesville and Albemarle, year over year, is a good thing. That the outlying counties’ numbers are down is due to a slew of factors, from foreclosures and short sales to people acting on their desires to be close to stuff. Walkability=Affordability=Profitability=Livability
Attitudes of Young Americans Bode Ill for Housing Recovery (Forbes) – This is something that is going to affect all real estate markets, not just Charlottesville’s, for years (decades?).
The lack of assets isn’t the only encumbrance to housing: Echo Boomers value education, people and leisure more than other American generations. Of the Echo Boomers I spoke with, 13% were homeowners, yet less than a third reported interest in owning a home someday (with female Echo Boomers wanting homes more than male Echo Boomers). They preferred graduate degrees, living in social areas (not suburbs) and freedom instead of homeownership. A few of these Echo Boomers will need a decade to pay off their student loans after which another large loan, like a mortgage, might lack appeal. And while suburbs seem to offer community and safety, they also add transportation costs with a lack of social diversity.
Goodbye, 0-5 Buyer -OR- Finance a House or an Education? (RealCentralVA)
People are staying in their homes longer – whether by choice or necessity. If selling is not a viable option, you need to fall in love with your house all over again.
Residential Remodeling Index at new high in October (Calculated Risk)
Now in Vogue: Practical Remodeling (Wall Street Journal)
UVA Credit Union’s Power Saver Loan–
These new PowerSaver loans will offer qualified homeowners up to $25,000 to make energy-efficient improvements of their choice, such as replacement doors and windows, metal or asphalt roofs, HVAC systems, water heaters, insulation, duct sealing, solar panels, ground source heat pump systems and more.
Interest Rates are still historically low – and they won’t start to matter until they rise.
Shadow Inventory – What will it’s affect be on the Charlottesville real estate market?
Download the PDF of the November 2011 here
I’m working on data and analysis, but wanted to get this out today. Lots more PDFs after the jump.
I’ve tried to write this story about the National Association of Realtors’ revisions and I can’t seem to write anything new that I or others haven’t said before.
@mortgagereports How will they help? More accurate data is good, but who trusts the NAR? My take is: national is irrelevant,local is crucial
There’s a bit more after the break, but the above sums it up.
Case Shiller doesn’t track the Charlottesville real estate market. Nor Albemarle, Greene, Fluvanna, Nelson, Waynesboro, Augusta … Case Schiller doesn’t track Charlottesville.
I wrote in early 2008 that The Charlottesville/Central Virginia/Shenandoah Valley markets are not covered by the Case-Shiller index. Real estate is local; while trends may be drawn from this type of research, and while the proverbial turned-corner may still be just over the horizon, it’s important to put his study in the appropriate context.
Crap. That “horizon” to which I referred is still a ways off. But … what I said remains true. Case Schiller doesn’t track our market.
But.
I haven’t done a Friday Chart in a while, but this struck me: This is a chart showing the inventory for Scripps Ranch in San Diego, courtesy of one of the best writers I know,…
