CAAR Market Report 2009 – Charlottesville Real Estate (part 3)

of Homes for Sale

The inventory of homes for sale in the Charlottesville has continued to decline very slowly. As we have reported for the past several quarters, the excess of inventory is causing many of the problems with our local housing market. The decline in inventory is very encouraging, but we will still have too many homes on the market for the current demand. This could change very quickly going into the busy spring market.

Currently, we have 2,877 homes on the market, compared to 3,086 at this time last year. This is the largest year-over-year decrease in several years, but we are still a little bit above a balanced inventory level in the 2,000 to 2,500 range. The median price of homes currently for sale is $289,900, which is $10,000 less than last year. The average DOM (days on market) of these homes is 182 days, which is ten days less than last year and 42 days more than homes that have sold. The most telling statistic related to homes currently on the market is that the average price per square foot is $208 compared to $143 for homes that sold in 2009.

Housing affordability is the positive aspect of this market. There are 786 homes for sale $200,000 or less with an average DOM of 164 and an average price per square foot of $146. There are 232 homes currently on the market priced at a million dollars or more with an average DOM of 270.

Days on Market (DOM)

In this market, the average days (DOM) a property stays on the market is less important than it would be in a more balanced market. There are many variables in the marketplace – excess inventory, foreclosures, short sale, and financing issues – that affect the length of time a property is on the market. The local area DOM stabilized in the second half of 2009 which, combined with the decrease in inventory, may indicate a change in the market. We are still in a buyer’s market, which means the best way to shorten the days your property is on the market is to price it correctly.

*includes sales outside the counties listed

**numbers courtesy of the Greater Augusta MLS

New Construction Still Slow

It is important to note that many “new” homes are not included in CAAR MLS statistics. It is very common for a buyer to contact a builder directly to custom build a home. With that said, the historical perspective of the pace of new home sales gives us a reasonably good picture of the market for new construction. As the chart below shows, new home sales are still struggling and until the inventory of re-sale homes for sale declines more, new construction will lag.

Condos and Townhomes (Attached Homes)

The sale of attached homes is only reported in Charlottesville and Albemarle because very few properties in this category are located in other counties, except Nelson. Since the condos in Nelson are primarily in the Wintergreen Resort market, we have decided not to include them in this report. One of the more interesting numbers in this report is the 26% increase in the sale of attached homes in Albemarle in 2009. Charlottesville attached home sales, on the other hand, are down 28.6%. Inventory levels of attached homes dropped during 2009 due to reasonably strong sales and little new inventory being created. The average DOM of the 333 attached homes currently on the market is 232, and the median price of an attached home currently on the market is $206,000. The median price for an attached home sold in 2009 was $221,500 with a DOM of 102.