Regional sales in January were down ever-so-slightly: from 139 in 2011 to 132 in 2012. This is still a bit of a hangover from a relatively slow late Fall selling season. However, as you will see by the three-year trend line, total sales are still trending downward just a tad. Our consensus at Nest over the past few weeks is that we are cautiously optimistic for 2012 and this year we could finally see some stabilization in the marketplace. You’ll notice that median sales prices for single family homes in the Charlottesville MSA were up 1% over January 2011 and median prices for attached/condos were down 3%. Sometimes the monthly reports do not tell the whole story since just a few sales can skew data one direction or another. While we’d argue that values are down over the last year, seeing only minor median price changes on a monthly basis reflects well on the state of the market.
The most positive trend that we see is the reduction in total inventory and months of inventory. Inventory levels are downacross the board. This is a partly due to sellers finally getting realistic. However, the biggest positive trend is the increase in contracts written in our region. We are up over 15% in total contracts written as compared to 2011 (230 vs 199) and 4 of the 6 market segments are up over last year. There is definitely a vibe in the market place and good properties are selling…sometimes quickly and sometimes with multiple offers.
See also: home showings in Charlottesville are up.
Nest Report Charlottesville: January 2012
2011 Annual Nest Report: The Charlottesville Real Estate Review
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