We’ve been very fortunate to continue to grow over the past few years…and it’s time to add a new member to our team. We’re hiring an Engagement and Brand Manager to join our Nest. The job is part brand management, part content director, and part marketing manager. I’m not going to bore you with a mundane job description…so, check out this video.
If you are intrigued, give us a shout and we’ll shoot you over some more info.
Over the last few years, we’ve consistently had tidbits of positive news here and there: interest rates creeping down, a slight uptick in sales, a bump in consumer confidence…
As we know, since around 2007 the majority of real estate news has been negative. That being said, there is a bit of optimism in the air – not just in Charlottesville, but throughout the country. Builder confidence is up again. Consumer confidence, although down slightly last month, has been on the rise. At Nest Realty, we’ve definitely seen a lot of home buyer activity in Charlottesville and Albemarle County during the first few weeks of the year. So, overall, the market seems to be moving in a positive direction.
One of the drivers for sales in the Charlottesville area real estate market during 2011 was new home sales. Approximately 20% of home sales in Albemarle County during 2011 were new home sales – pretty amazing. Low land prices and low material prices were major driving forces in generating so many new home sales. In reality, there were a lot of buyers that got great deals on new homes over the last year or so.
But here’s an interesting twist: we’ve heard grumblings of building material cost increases over the last few days. Drywall, shingles, lumber, etc, etc all are increasing in price. According to Charlottesville new home expert Greg Slater (who represents Piedmont Realty and Construction - one of the region’s largest homebuilders), drywall prices are jumping around 30%, shingles are up 15%, and other materials will surely soon follow. Check out Greg’s post and analysis here.
So, what does this mean?
1. New home prices are probably inching up over the next few weeks. If you are tracking new homes in the Charlottesville MLS, you can expect to see some price increases for homes that are either a) not completed yet or b) To-Be-Built. I would expect that most of the major builders in our area will be raising their prices after they discuss these materials price increases with their suppliers.
2. This could actually help stabilize re-sale prices a bit. New home pricing is a major factor in determining re-sale prices – many home buyers consider new and re-sale homes when looking to purchase and if they can buy a new home for considerably less than a comparable re-sale, then they will typically choose the ‘new’ option.
So, we’ll track this closely over the coming months to see how this national trend affects us locally. Stay tuned…this could be another interesting year.
Our next video in Nest Realty’s Live Where You Love series takes us to Northern Albemarle and 29 North. Over the last 20 years, Northern Albemarle has seen explosive growth with commercial, retail, and residential development. Convenience and proximity to services play a major role in people’s decisions to live in this part of Albemarle County. With tons of shopping options, the Charlottesville airport, and a variety of housing options, residents of Northern Albemarle are still a quick trip to Downtown Charlottesville and UVa.
Special thanks to Marijean Jaggers of Jaggers Communications, Barbara Hutchinson of CHO, Ron Morse of Baja Bean, and ACAC for their help.
Nest Realty is proud to announce 2 exciting additions to our Charlottesville office. Robert Russo and Janice Kavanagh have both joined Nest and we couldn’t be happier to have them on our team.
You can get to know Robert and Janice a little better by checking out their bios on our web site.
If you do know them, I think everyone will agree that they are tremendous real estate agents that represent their clients and the Nest brand very well.
Welcome to our ‘nest’, Robert and Janice!
A report from the Daily Progress yesterday projects that there is a chance that the partially-built Landmark Hotel in Charlottesville may start moving forward again in 2012.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Landmark Hotel saga…here’s a quick recap with some additional story links from The Hook.
Though there still is obviously confusion around this ‘he said – he said’ story, it’s exciting that this project could potentially be re-kickstarted with a completion date in sight. We can see The Landmark from our Charlottesville Nest office and it’s actually kind of depressing. With so much vitality and excitement on the Downtown Mall, the current state of the Landmark puts a bit of a damper on the Charlottesville landscape.
We’re looking forward to see how this story unfolds over the next several months…
A quick look at life in Charlottesville. It’s impossible to capture the true essence of Charlottesville in less than 4 minutes, but this is a start. We hope you enjoy…
Overall, the November 2011real estate market in Charlottesville performed about as we expected. Overall, total year-over-year sales were down (from 174 to 150). Median sales prices in the Charlottesville MSA were also down…by about 3% from November 2010.
There was some positive news, though: the three-year total sales trend is now slightly positive…meaning that sales in recent months are trending higher than what we’ve seen, on average, over the last 3 years.
From the report…
Regional year-over-year total sales dropped in November as compared to 2010. Total sales over the last 12 calendar months (2279) are relatively flat to the prior 12 month period (2327). That, in and of itself, is a victory in today’s market. Overall median prices in November did drop about 3% from November 2010. Days on Market for sold properties has remained relatively steady over the last 12 months – typically hovering in the 100 to 120 day range. Inventory levels for the entire MSA increased from 14.81 in November 2010 to 16.84 months. While total inventory levels did drop slightly, the drop from 174 to 150 total sales forced the Months of Inventory up approximately 15%.
Even with the drop in sales during November, the three-year sales trend is now slightly positive in Central Virginia. Total sales in all six areas dropped as compared to last November. Notably, Albemarle County sales dipped from 73 to 69 and Charlottesville City sales fell from 21 to 20. In addition, contracts written in Albemarle fell from 94 in 2010 to 75 this past month. Charlottesville City contracts increased from 25 to 26. On a positive note, condos and attached home sales in the MSA increased 40% year-over-year and Months of Inventory fell 21% to 12.97 months.
Nest Report Charlottesville: November 2011
We’re proud to announce that we’ve officially launched version 1.0 of our Nest New River Valley web site. We’ve got some pretty cool features…and more to come in the next few months. A quick overview:
- An interactive area map of the most popular regions of the New River Valley
- Over 150 neighborhood descriptions and the ability to search for homes by neighborhood
- Search for the most recently listed homes in the New River Valley
- Search for homes with price reductions
- Great information about life in Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and the entire NRV
So, what’s coming next?
- Keep your eyes out for some regional market reports and analysis in the coming weeks
- Over the next few months, we’ll be adding some more content, videos, and images to help you learn about and understand the region even more.
But, in the end, there’s no substitute for great New River Valley real estate agents…and we’ve got those, too!
After opening our doors in Charlottesville in 2008, Nest Realty opened our second office in Blacksburg in 2011. Since we made the announcement, everyone keeps asking, ‘Why Blacksburg?’
The simple answer is that there are a lot of similarities between Charlottesville and Blacksburg. They’re both small towns. They’re both college towns. Both populations have an extremely intelligent resident base. I could go on and on.
But I think that the biggest similarity is that residents of both Charlottesville and Blacksburg ‘care.’ They care about local businesses. They care about their schools. They care about their community.
So, it’s not surprising that Business Week just named Blacksburg as the ‘Best Place in the Country to Raise Kids.‘ You can also check out Blacksburg real estate expert Jeremy Hart’s take here.
Congrats, Blacksburg!
