Comments on: Charlottesville Area Market Report for 1st Half 2008 Released

By: Jim Duncan

Jim Duncan — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:21:57 +0000

Re: “First time buyers” – it can be a great time to buy, but blanket statements are troubling. Each case/client is different and has different needs and goals and thus needs individual, specific analysis.

Thank you sincerely for your comments.

By: Jim Duncan

Jim Duncan — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:20:18 +0000

Save your comments for another 50 minutes! (that’s when I have my first-half market report scheduled to post).

By: First time buyer

First time buyer — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 02:08:19 +0000

Bubble blog I agree. Nice post about Belmont.
728 sq ft 2bd 1 bath Belmont cottages at 190,000-215000. A 20% down payment is 40,000. Affordable?

I like the market perspectives offered by Jim and the Bubble blog in contrast to the CAAR blog.

By: The Bubble Blog

The Bubble Blog — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 01:31:05 +0000

First Time Buyer,

You’re a wise one!

Yes, “great time for first time homebuyers” is a VERY ANNOYING line, ESPECIALLY WITHOUT these stipulations:

1. If you have excellent credit
2. If you have lots of cash on hand ($50K or more, if you want to do the old-fashioned ‘responsible’ thing and put down 20%)
3. If you’re going to live in the house for 5-10 years
4. If you accept the fact that housing values should REALLY only be appreciating about 3% each year, even in a ‘protected market’ like Charlottesville.

We have a post on our blog called “Fire Sale in Belmont!” that offers things in the $200,000 range–which is what, traditionally, someone making the very respectable (and almost double C’ville median) income should be spending on a house, using the 4xWage to Price ratio that used to be the rule of thumb for property buyers. In C’ville, something in your price range gets a tiny, downmarket cottage or a condo. Who needs this? In other cities, it gets you a nice house.

But stay tuned! The Fed is rescuing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac even as we sit here at our computers, and who knows what’s going to happen to the stock market AND to housing prices this coming week. Whee!

By: First time buyer

First time buyer — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:29:36 +0000

I hate the “great time for first time homebuyers” line in every market report.
As a young single professional earning 50000yr, what is affordable? Prospect Ave or a 1 bedroom Jefferson Park condo?
My friends and I would rather rent a nice house than lose money trying to sell an attached house with association fees.

I too enjoy the information you present in your blog.

By: Patti Lillard

Patti Lillard — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:42:54 +0000

I hope Julie is right about the upward swing. We are seeing a fairly steady stream of people looking in the Madison, Virginia area.

Great blog, Jim. I will be checking back for more!
Patti

By: homebuyerfirst

homebuyerfirst — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:03:30 +0000

I enjoy reading others statics about their area and how things are. GA is still under a pretty good outcome of real estate but we are in a down fall. I am not sure it is at the same level as yours. Thank you for keeping us on the outside up to date.

homebuyerfirst

http://first-time-home-buyer-s.com

By: Real C'ville - The Bubble Blog

Real C'ville - The Bubble Blog — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:52:46 +0000

Jim,

We’re sitting around over here wringing our hands and trying not to hit the liquor cabinet as we flip through cable news!

We’re tracking the declines of Fannie & Freddie, and have links to significant stories over on the blog. But any news website will do–it’s the top headline.

Part of looking at the Market Report is predicting the next half of the year. But where we think the local RE market is headed in some part depends upon what happens over this weekend (bailout?) and through next week.

The “short sellers” (those who bet on the decline of the mortgage giants, not bank “short sales” of individual properties) are making millions right now, and have over the past couple days (and few will comment to NYTimes, etc.) The loss to everybody else will be significant if one or both F & F fails.

And of course the debt responsibility will be handed over to the American taxpayer.

But we’ll have something up about the local market, soon….

By: Julie Emery

Julie Emery — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:37:27 +0000

Jim,

Your market didn’t start the downturn until after ours. We’re starting to see signs of improvement, especially in Prince William. You may be just a little behind us.

But as you said earlier, gas prices are playing a role. The recovery will feel very different in places like Prince William compared to places like Culpeper.