Charlottesville area housing market report

And now for the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtor’s report on the state of the local real estate market.

In Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa and Nelson there are 1,959 active properties on the market, rather than 3,072 as the report says (this is simply selecting “active” and then clicking “search”)  If Waynesboro and Augusta, to our West, are included, there are 2,505 properties on the market.

– There were 2,778 homes sold in Central Virginia last year, versus 3,515 in 2006, 3875 in 2005.
– For first-time homebuyers, there are 182 homes on the market under $200k; include Waynesboro and Augusta and there are 360! Take condos out of that equation and the numbers drop to 222 and 249.
– In just Charlottesville/Albemarle, there are 82 non-condo properties under $200k (116 sold in the past 6 months – about 7 months of inventory), and 117 over One Million Dollars (35 sold in the past six months – just over 3 years of inventory).

I’ll refer (shamelessly) to last week’s C-Ville Weekly:

“When you actually start looking, the pickings are fairly slim, realistically,” Duncan says. The lesson? Smart use of search criteria—plus a generous helping of local expertise—helps to make inventory manageable.

Is it a “great time to buy” for everyone? No. Way. Now can be a great time to buy – if you’re buying with the appropriate amount of due diligence, proper consideration and the best buyer-representation you can find.

The report (pdf) is here.

Perhaps the best news not in this report? Building permits are down, and I expect 4th Quarter building permits in Albemarle to be even lower when they are released later this month.

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Note: Price per square foot is a metric by which to help determine a home’s market value, not the metric.

Surprise! Sales volume is down, year-over-year.

This number doesn’t feel right from my day-to-day experience.

One thing sellers may want to start considering? Seller Financing.

In all honesty, I think that the comments here provide better insight into the market.

Update 1/13/2008: Other local Realtors (no longer available) weigh in, as does our Association CEO.

Update 1/14/2008: The Daily Progress’ report (no longer available).