Unsatisfied Charlottesville Buyers & Jobs – Two Great Responses to My Note

1 – I love the responses to my monthly note (subscribe if you’re interested in the note); they make the writing worthwhile.

2 – Two of this month’s on point responses … response #1 today, response #2 tomorrow.

The first response came from a remark in which I noted that the 2016 Charlottesville real estate market has left a lot of buyers unsatisfied.

Why are buyers unsatisfied? Is this more or less than what you see in an average year (whatever average means)? Can you throw some context on that?

The short answer is that there aren’t enough good houses to buy in Charlottesville or Albemarle. Sales are up, but there are a ton of buyers who want to buy – many of whom want/need to be under $400K in the City, but can’t find anything.

An awful lot of people want to buy within walking distance (under ~ 20 minutes from X) and there are more of those potential buyers than there are houses.

Add to that that many of those houses that do come on the market – that are good –  are going to be competed for with multiple offers, and many may not make it to the open market.

A lot of the stuff that comes on the market comes on the market needing > $30K of work to bring it to modern-ish standards. From my lens, a lot of my buyers have neither the time/cash/expertise/inclination to undertake such projects.

Think about this – in 2015 from 1 January to 27 November, 827 homes with at least 2 bedrooms, within 10 miles of downtown Charlottesville, sold in Charlottesville + Albemarle that were priced between $180K and $400K. Median days on market: 22. Median price: $278K

(from Charlottesville MLS) So far in 2016, 873 homes have sold, and the median days on market is 16 and the median price is $277K. 6 days may not sound like a lot, but when you’re considering spending hundreds of thousand of dollars, and this may be your first home, and you’re faced with an escalation clause, those 6 days matter when you’re making such a sudden and rash decision.

Looking more narrowly – at least 3 beds, at least 2 baths, single family, City of Charlottesville, between $250K and $400K:

In 2015

• 114 sold
• Median price: $326,500
• Median days on market: 21
• Average days on market: 59
• 10 of these 131 were marked as “new construction”

In 2016

• 131 sold
• Median price: $315,000
• Median days on market: 8
• Average days on market: 47
• 10 of these 131 were marked as “new construction”

My advice to buyers, if you’re looking in a super-competitive market segment? Start looking now. Hire good representation (ask me, really). And get ready.

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