Thursday thoughts
Between a walkthrough, a closing and watching and listening to the USA's World Cup loss, these are some items of note: Albemarle Place clearing has begun. Affordable housing is essential to modern cities. Government-subsidized affordable housing? I don't agree with this, but it is an…
Walker Square, the market and one other thing
Walker Square would be well-advised to address their customer service and management issues. This is the type of publicity that will 1) impact their ability to rent, 2) their ability to sell their condos and 3) the ability of the owners to sell their condos.…
Prepping for this week
Drought Watch - conserving water should not have to wait until we are facing a potential emergency. The recent housing boom may had a psychological underpinning. This should be fun: ... the Consumer Federation of America, a nonprofit research and advocacy group, releases a report…
Charlottesville Housing “Overvalued”
It's easy to just read headlines and get nervous and scared. Thankfully, there's data to review. The summary is here. Their methodology is here. USA Today is good at presenting pretty shocking summaries. The good news - The Charlottesville MSA is the 82nd most overvalued…
Things I would like to blog about
But don't have the time - A Chinese blogger is trying to boycott the housing market - and it's working! (Link good for 7 days) Microhouses are on the rise I've written about this before. As fuel costs rise, construction costs rise, interest rates rise…
Condos in CharlAlbemarle
Condos, condos, condos. Condos have been a major part of the market in CharlAlbemarle for the past several years. As readers know, I use other markets as bell-weathers for the Central Virginia market - what does the cancellation of two DC condo projects relate to…
Charlottesville is #12
Charlottesville (CharlAlbemarle or the Charlottesville MSA) is now ranked as the 12th best in the "Small Metro Areas" category in the 2006's Best Cities for Relocating Familiesâ„¢ study. This may be an important "study" in that it appears to be targeted towards businesses relocating their…
Buyer’s or Seller’s Market?
Are we in a Buyer's or Seller's Market? Outstanding post and comments at Matrix. What if it's not "either - or" and just a balanced market? From the comments: All in all, we are much closer to a buyers market than you think and it…
Fake cities to replace real cities?
The WSJ had a fascinating story yesterday about the rise of mini-cities as a means by which to combat sprawl. Even though these faux downtowns contain tinges of suburbia, they're taking advantage of a growing backlash against the sprawl that rings Dallas and other U.S.…
A thought on the Blogger’s Summit
Not real estate-related. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership is a moderately respected institution. They have put together a pretty impressive lineup of speakers. They are holding it at one of the premier facilities in the Commonwealth. They are…