The perils of being quoted in the media in Charlottesville

Sometimes, it seems that being quoted in the media is more trouble than it’s worth. I’d like to see C-Ville open their stories in a manner similar to The HooK. Transparency hurt nobody.

Take today’s story in the C-Ville Weekly (no longer available) on the area’s home sales –

Mid-year sales in Charlottesville, Albemarle and surrounding counties decreased to 1,882 from 2,267 homes sold at this time last year. That means we’re still in a buyer’s market, but according to CAAR, the real estate pendulum is ever so gently swinging back towards the center.
Yet realtor and real estate blogger Jim Duncan isn’t ready to buy into CAAR’s assessment. “We’re firmly entrenched in a buyer’s market,” says Duncan. “We’re going to know in nine or 12 months where we are today. The market is changing so rapidly that sellers, buyers and realtors, we’re all adjusting.”

If you’re not going to type Realtor in all caps (per trademark), at least use common media practice and capitalize it.  See this story for clarification of my assessment of the local market, and this one expanding on why hindsight will give us the opportunity to better assess today’s market.

So what will a little under $300,000 get you in downtown Charlottesville? According to Duncan, three bedrooms and 1,600 square feet. Plus, thanks to a few acts by (archived: 2007) boys in baggy white t-shirts, extra police presence.

The brevity, flippancy of the above statement and, to my eye, the appearance that I alluded to the recent spate of attacks is irksome, to say the least. Making light of violence benefits nobody.

Speaking of adjustments, Charlottesville saw a $43,000 jump (18 percent) in mid-year median sales prices to $280,000, its biggest in five years after a $3,500 drop last year. Impressive, sure—until you factor in the spike of lower-priced condo sales in 2006 that helped keep the median price low. Nowadays, condos are sort of a sore subject, what with a glut of them sitting all empty and un-yuppied. “That segment of the market’s getting hammered right now,” says Duncan.

Un-yuppied? I wrote about the condo market earlier this month, but in context of the wider market. I’m not sure that I used the word “hammered” – it’s not one that I would typically use when describing the market, so as to avoid contributing to the culture of fear being propagated by the media.

Seeing a few choice quotes selected to give a story more of a “gotcha” quality is frustrating, particularly when my words are used. Live and learn. That said, after being so lucky to have been quoted a few times in the local media, having only one story that raises my ire isn’t a bad percentage. What a great opportunity to say this – to stay abreast of the Charlottesville area’s real estate market, written about in context and with detailed analysis, please consider subscribing to RealCentralVA.com via RSS (no longer available) or email alerts (no longer available).