What a sad testament on the American Way.Get ready for some foreclosures – Subprime loans doing badly. I would love to see numbers on what percentage of loans written in the past 3 years in the Central Virginia region were subprime.Black Friday -v- Buy Nothing DayIs this a good thing? Why do we need this certification when we are supposed to treat everyone equal? Or am I just too idealistic for my own good?Finally, this evening at 6pm, UVA will host Notre Dame in an NCAA tournament clash.
Date Archives November 2006
Realtor Technology Survey
Thanks to the Future of Real Estate Technology for pointing this out. Most Realtors have a long way to go. The Survey is here.
How do you know it’s over?
I love economists.Some say the worst of the housing bust is over…. Things change so fast in the breathless headline-writing world:11/15/2006: Mortgage applications hit highest since January.11/22/2006: Mortgage applications fall in latest week (Press release from the Mortgage Bankers Association)How do we know that the housing “bust/correction/adjustment” (how about “change”) is over? My answer – when we are able to look back from a perspective of nine to eighteen months and say, “see, here are the data, this is the trend of where we were, and here is where we are.” Until then, speculation about every move – a move of any kind – of the market is just that – speculation, even if it’s educated speculation.
Houses are selling!
Removing condos from the equation – In Charlottesville/Albemarle/Fluvanna/Greene:141 properties sold in October 2006…. 196 in October 2004 and 194 in October 2003. Putting condos back in the mix, as they have become the de facto choice for many seeking affordable housing, the numbers change a bit:161 properties sold in October 2006…. 197 in October 2004 and 196 in October 2003.
Are there Two Charlottesvilles?
I think of this every time I see you mention the CharlAlbemarle market, because it seems like there are really two markets, those who are willing to sacrifice a great deal of size, sfr, yard, parking, safety, etc. to live near downtown and the university and those who are not…. Wikipedia says it well:Charlottesville is an independent city located within the confines of Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Princess Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the wife of King George III of England.But are there two Charlottesvilles?… He never left the Mall area, rode a bike everywhere – he existed without need for outside influences.Condos, condos, condos!Part and parcel of this “City lifestyle” may best be depicted by the recent condo boom that has defined the Charlottesville (City of) real estate market for the past couple of years…. The City of Charlottesville does seem to be overtaken in parts by Urban Hipsters, but there is more to the City than condos and coffee shops, although we have plenty of ’em.But yes, there is a Charlottesville within Charlottesville, but we all have to live together.Charlottesville Fact sheet, Albemarle Fact sheet.
Good enough for Google and China
Soon it’ll be good enough for the rest of us. Besides, once CNN covers something, it has clearly taken a step further into the masses’ consciousness. Certainly it’s not enough for McDonough – the former dean of the University of Virginia School of Architecture and head of two pathbreaking design firms in Charlottesville, Va. – whose eco-friendly schemes are sweeping, radical, and “head-twisting,” as McDonough puts it…. Entire cities with factory roofs covered with vegetation.
Carnival #19
Ubertor hosts this week’s Carnival.