Housing Sales Down in Charlottesville and Albemarle – February 2010

(click image for full-size version)

See the uptick? It’s right there! I was going to write this story on Friday, but with the news yesterday and today that, nationwide, home sales are at record lows, I thought today was more appropriate and timely. Also, writing these real estate analyses forces me to become much more knowledgeable with the most up-to-date data. So I’m doing for me and you. 🙂

The question is – should I buy a house now?

The answer is – maybe. It depends on what your goals are, where you are in life, career, family situation.

I know this – independent of me, a new client came to me last week and said, (paraphrasing here) – “I think that right now in Charlottesville/Albemarle, there is a unique and perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy a home for my family.” This isn’t the first person to say this me.

I noted in August of 2009 that We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know. And we still don’t.

We know this:

Charlottesville and Albemarle home sales in February:

64 homes sold in 2010

79 homes sold in 2009

72 homes sold in 2008

105 homes sold in 2007

141 homes sold in 2006

124 homes sold in 2005

108 homes sold in 2004

Homes under contract – first 23 days of March …

… Contracts seem to be picking up. A little bit.

The question is – should I buy a house now?

The answer is – maybe. It depends on what your goals are, where you are in life, career, family situation.

I know this – independent of me, a new client came to me last week and said, (paraphrasing here) – “I think that right now in Charlottesville/Albemarle, there is a unique and perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy a home for my family.” This isn’t the first person to say this me.

From today’s Wall Street Journal:

For those trying to figure out how much further U.S. house prices could fall, it would help to know how many more foreclosed homes banks need to sell.

Alas, no one has found a way to track precisely how many of those properties are owned by banks, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (which ends up with homes when FHA-insured loans go bad) and mortgage investors, including securitization trusts and the government-controlled mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. All of these entities report data on their holdings of foreclosed homes – known in the trade as REO, short for “real estate owned” – but they do so in their own disparate ways.

Also from today’s WSJ:

“The expiration of that tax credit [and severe winter weather] has caused home sales to crash,” Insight Economics’ Steven Wood wrote in a research note. “Because the tax credit has been extended and expanded, there should be a recovery in sales over the next two months.” The new tax break covers sales through April 30 that close before July 1.

Take a look at the sales and inventory report for the past four years for Charlottesville and Albemarle (archived: 2022).

Homes Sold in February:

And because I know most of my readers like to see the data for themselves ….

Homes Placed Under Contract in Charlottesville and Albemarle in February:

Homes placed under contract in March in Charlottesville and Albemarle: