The Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS has just released the its 2008 mid-year market report.  What has happened so far this year in the area real estate market and what does our "crystal ball" indicate the rest of the year will bring?

The over all picture of the market so far this year could be characterized as sluggish.  To put things in perspective we have a fairly normal number of people buying homes, but speculative investors are absent from the marketplace.  It is these investors,  flipping homes in the same year, who drove up statistics and as a result prices.  This resulted in the hot market that we had a couple of years ago.  At this time the market has become more stable with median prices remaining flat in comparison to the past two years.  The backlog of inventory of homes on the market has gone down a bit, but still remains a major concern.

At this time we have 3,761 homes actively on the market.  Compare this number with 4,050 homes on the market at the end of May 2008 and you can see that the inventory has gone down somewhat.  The median price is $309,900 and the average days on market is 151 days.

In summary, the market has not changed a great deal since the 1st quarter report thus indicating a stabilization of the market.  It is still a good time to buy, if you purchase a correctly priced property and plan to keep the home for 3-5 years.  As for sellers, in this market their home needs to have the best location, condition, amenities, and price compared to the many other homes on the market in the same price range.

We expect to see market conditions remain steady over the remainder of the year.  You will know that the market is improving when you see a reduction in inventory.  We will start to see a market that is balanced between buyers and sellers when the inventory shrinks to around 2,000-2,500 active listings.

Read the report in detail.

For more information or real estate in the Charlottesville, Virginia area pleas contact:

Pam Dent, e-PRO, SRES, NHD
Real Estate III
Charlottesville, Virginia
434 960-0161
www.JumpintoGreenerPastures.com
www.CharlottesvilleHorseFarmsandCountryHomes.com
www.Charlottesville.virginiablogpage.com

The last few years saw a burst of construction of condos and attached homes in Albemarle County.  This construction has currently slowed.  However with the relatively high prices of detached homes in the Charlottesvville area, condos and attached homes remain an affordable option in the county real estate market.

In this report I have grouped condos and attached homes together.

In June there were 48 contingent contracts on listings priced from $127,500-995,000.

42 homes had contracts pending ranging in price from $98,500-918,840.

43 condos and attached homes sold in June in Albemarle County with an average price of $218,923 and a median price of $204,400.  The average days on market was 114.

There are 331 homes actively on the market listed between $104,900-1,199,000.

At the June rate of sales there is 7.69 months of inventory on the market.  As you can see with the large inventory to choose from it is a very good time to buy.

For more information on the area real estate market contact:

Pam Dent, e-PRO, SRES
Real Estate III
Charlottesville, VA
434 960-0161
www.JumpintoGreenerPastures.com
www.CharlottesvilleHorseFarmsandCountryHomes.com
www.Charlottesvillevirginiablogpage.com

Information is from the mls and is deemed accurate but not guaranteed.

The following is a summary of the June activity in the Louisa County, Virginia real estate market.  This data covers single family detached homes.

In the month of June there were 10 contingent contracts on homes ranging from $95,999-$1,950,000.

There were 49 pending contracts on homes listed from $129,000-$547,000.

In Louisa County 14 homes were sold in June.  The average sales price was $257,725 and the median was $223,745.  The average days on market was 92.

There are 264 homes actively listed on the market in Louisa, ranging in price from $75,000-$595,000.

At the June sales rate there is 18.85 months of residential inventory on the market.  This is definately a good time to buy a home in Louisa County.

If you would like further information on the area real estate market I would be glad to talk with you.

Pam Dent
Real Estate III
Charlottesville,
Virginia
 434 960-0161 
www.JumpintoGreenerPastures.com
www.CharlottesvilleHorseFarmsandCountryHomes.com
www.Charlottesville.virginiablogpage.com

This information is from the mls and is deemed accurate but not guaranteed.