I received this email yesterday afternoon as a heads-up for today’s show (tune in to WNRN at 11!): · Are you reliant on increasing sales figures(value) to be successful?· Are you worried about a recession?· Do we or do we not have housing surplus?· Things that help/hurt the sales economy?· Have lenders (bank, mortgage) gotten tighter in this area too?· People say we have a strong ‘service sector’. How does the low unemployment rate and many unfilled service jobs affect real estate sales and satisfaction of new residents?· Many folks refer to the University as why our area will not suffer an economic recession, or at least just a minor bump if the rest of the nation suffers greatly. Please explain.· Can’t the University (and our local businesses) suffer if students and their families have less credit and tighter overall budgets?
Date Archives January 2008
One of the differences between Albemarle and Greene Counties
Albemarle County has an Architectural Review Board that micromanages minutiae.Greene County does not.Both Wal-Mart and Lowe’s said they will begin building their new stores there in the spring and fall, respectively. They will serve as anchors for the Gateway Center, a new retail shopping center in Greene County.Unlike other shopping centers, there isn’t an artist’s rendering available for the Gateway Center; the future of the site’s appearance depends on which businesses move in….“There will be space for smaller retail stores to lease, but the exact location and design have yet to be determined,†Hughes said….Officials know the layout of the site, said Steve Catalano, chairman of the Greene County Board of Supervisors. However, the county doesn’t have an architectural control committee….Catalano said the board did request that the site have “a tasteful appearance.  The closest “big-box” stores are in Culpeper, about 45 minutes north and Charlottesville, about 20-30 minutes south.
A symptom or a cause?
Is this a symptom or a cause of our economy’s issues?
Quick market update for Charlottesville MSA
I have argued that we in the real estate world track the real estate market too closely, parsing short-term data and drawing immediate conclusions in a world that demands long-term analysis. With that caveat, this is some interesting data:From 1 January 2003 to 17 January 2003:120 properties went under contract and195 were listed *From 1 January 2004 to 17 January 2004:133 properties went under contract in and193 were listedFrom 1 January 2005 to 17 January 2005105 properties went under contract in and202 were listedFrom 1 January 2006 to 17 January 2006129 properties went under contract in and389 were listedFrom 1 January 2007 to 17 January 2007109 properties went under contract and351 were listedA quick look shows that supply is up, and demand is about the same. The first quarter market report is going to be interesting.*Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Greene, Nelson**I intend to include Louisa, Augusta and Waynesboro in the data this year, but … for historical data I need to exclude them, as they have only recently become part of our market and MLS.
A primer on the ever-changing mortgage market
I’m not a lender, nor do I play one on TV…. I know several whom I trust and seek out for guidance…. nullHere’s a preview of one post I’m working on – what happens when? When the lending pool shrinks even further and even more houses come on the market?
Real estate radio in Charlottesville on Sunday
I’m going to be on WNRN’s Sunday Morning Wake-up Call on Sunday, 20 January to discuss the Charlottesville economy, and the real estate market in particular. One thing I like (and fear) about live radio is the immediacy – the thinking-on-the-fly aspect. There’s no spell-checking, no proof-reading, just honest dialogue.What questions do you have, or what topics would you like to have covered? Last time, Rich nailed me – we’re still not technically in a “declining market,” but we may be close (I’m working on such a story).As a real estate buyer or seller – do you see or perceive a difference between someone paying to have a real estate show or being invited to be on a show?I’ve been on the radio a couple of times before – in September of 2007, May of 2007, and May of 2006, and it’s always fun.
A bigger Charlottesville airport
However, more often than not, things don’t work.Pickering said he believes people who fly out of Charlottesville are more willing to pay for convenience rather than driving to Richmond or Washington Dulles. The Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport offers nonstop flights to Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia, New York LaGuardia, Washington Dulles, Detroit, Cincinnati and Atlanta….The report said the airport might also be able to offer flights to Chicago O’Hare, Dallas-Fort Worth, Newark, N.J., and Orlando, Fla., although Pickering said restrictions on the number of flights to and from the airports and the length of the runway needed for takeoff may present a problem.When it works, it’s beautiful. For now, whenever I fly, I tend to drive to Richmond; it’s less than 90 minutes away, and if my flight gets cancelled, there is almost always another one. With Charlottesville, it’s frequently stay-the-night roulette.When clients ask me what impact the airport has on real estate values my response is – “Dulles hasn’t harmed real estate in Northern Virginia.”