Charlottesville in USA Today
How 'bout that. They are saying what we have known all along. The University of Virginia insulates the economy and the housing market in Charlottesville from many of the national trends. Home sales this year will be the second-best on record, though still down markedly…
Richmond loves Charlottesville
Or at least the Times-Dispatch does. This is an entire "section" devoted to Charlottesville. It was published this summer, but just popped up in my feed reader this morning. One of my favorites: The popularity of the city has spilled into Albemarle County, where huge…
Top 5 stories of 2007
The top 5 stories on this blog from the past year - Zillow steps it up - Zillow is just "hot" What I want in a real estate website - It worked; now I have most of what I was looking for. Google and Zillow…
If the taxes are local …
... shouldn't the localities decide how to tax themselves? Bah. Requires each locality to lower its real estate tax rate for the forthcoming tax year, to produce no more than 101 percent of the previous year's real property tax levies when any annual assessment, biennial…
Hiatus almost over
Batteries are almost recharged, planning is nearing completion, and most importantly - I spent two nearly uninterrupted days with my family, something I haven't done in nearly a year. The Charlottesville area market seems to be balancing out, and a bit of analysis is in…
Perhaps my favorite post of the week – referencing eminent domain
Referencing eminent domain and the Kelo case: Here is my house that you did take From me to you, this spell I make Your houses, your homes Your family, your friends May they live in misery That never ends. I curse you all May you…
Blogs are …
From today's WSJ: The fatuity matters more than the politics. If the blogs have enthusiastically endorsed Joseph Conrad's judgment of newspapering--"written by fools to be read by imbeciles"--they have also demonstrated a remarkable ecumenicalism in filling out that same role themselves.I disagree. Many blogs may…
Will Charlottesville City follow?
Kudos to Albemarle County for joining the Energy Star program. Well done, folks. Now, will the progressive City of Charlottesville follow? They may be, but searching for energy, leed, green on their awful, yet award-winning, website yielded no relevant results.
Where is the middle ground?
Is there one? A few conflicting analyses from my feed reader: New Home Construction Rises, But Inventory Levels Still High Foreclosure threat ominous for subprime Borrowers - NAR is concerned, too Housing market in revulsion stage Housing slowdown nearing end, via the Real Estate Bloggers…