Buyer Activity is Up in Charlottesville

It’s True. I said on Twitter:

Granted, the above responses are all from Realtors, but they are the ones who will have the “boots on the ground” experience.

Locally in the Charlottesville real estate market, buyer activity seems to be increasing – in some cases, significantly so. I’m not saying that there are “lots of buyers who are buying,” but there do seem to be “lots of buyers” who are kicking the tires, and some of them are writing offers (and believe it or not, some of these offers are becoming Contracts).

Take the following anecdotal evidence for what you will –

1 – I’m busy (and still taking on new clients), showing a lot of houses all over the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County (for some reason, my clients seem to cluster, no one in Waynesboro or Fluvanna yet this year)

2 – A Real Estate III agent told me that she had fourteen groups of interested folks through one of her public open houses last weekend – all with no advertising.

3 – A Montague Milller Realtor told me that on a recent Sunday open house, she had nearly twenty groups of interested people* through on a Sunday open house.

* Note that I am not saying “buyers” but “interested parties” because I have no way to determine whether they were were ready, willing and able buyers. That said, that people are looking is a good sign.

4 – Showings are up.

Look – I am under no illusions that we have hit bottom – I have been consistent with my calls for patience with regards to calling bottom – we need eighteen months of hindsight before we can point to a bottom. But … it’s hard to deny that recent buying activity is starting to show an uptick.

Here’s the takeaway –

I’m cautiously optimistic. (of course, I said this last year, too)

It’s too early to draw any conclusions, but I am going to post an early analysis next week on Wednesday, when I will be on the Coy Barefoot show on WINA.

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