2019 is now over and we are excited to release our 2019 Charlottesville Annual Report. Understanding what’s going on in the market allows us to equip our clients to make confident, informed decisions. It also gives us an idea of what the future holds.
At the start of every year, we pour through sales charts, look back at our goals, and check how we’ve done on our predictions for the past year. We do our best to prepare our agents for the new year. As we launch into 2020, we know that we’ve completed a year that was in all accounts better than expected.
From an economic standpoint, there is no question that a year ago we were expecting higher interest rates and a slowing (not severe, but noticeable) of our real estate sales markets. This just didn’t happen in much of the country. Sales volume throughout the Charlottesville Association was up just over 5.5%, and the number of sales was up more than 4%.
At Nest, we’ve been the most productive firm in the area for seven years now, and every year we continue to be excited by our growing family of clients. This year, across Albemarle and Charlottesville, Nest represented a buyer or a seller in more than 39% of all transactions. When you include our offices across the Mid-Atlantic, it took from our founding in 2008 until 2018 for us to close our 10,000th home sale. Just one year later, we reached the 15,000 milestone. We hope not to slow down in 2020.
How does 2020 look? Well, it’s tricky to say. With any election year, buyers become a bit more cautious. Uncertainty always leads to a slowing sales cycle, and this year looks to be no different. If anything, the uncertainty of 2020 is even more pronounced. But there are no indications in the marketplace that we are going to see a significant slowing. Unemployment continues to be extremely low across the country and our Commonwealth, and the Charlottesville MSA unemployment rate is the lowest in Virginia as of the most recent numbers.
Uncertainty is key this year. Politically, we have firestorms brewing domestically and abroad. But if we can keep those at bay, 2020 is looking to be as strong as, if not stronger than, 2019.
We focus on what we do best. We try to provide certainty, we advocate for our clients and listen to their needs, and we help them make the wisest decisions they can make with the most accurate information and guidance we can offer.
Quick Takeaways
- Total sales increased more than 2% year-over-year across the Charlottesville MSA last year. Total sales were 3,965, a 2.2% increase from 2018, when there were 3,879 total sales.
- The median sales price in 2019 was $315,000, a 2.61% increase over 2018’s median sales price of $307,000.
- In the Charlottesville MSA, average days on market dropped 1.69% to 58. The Rio neighborhood had the lowest average days on market within the Charlottesville MSA at 34 days.
Be sure to check out the full 2019 Charlottesville Annual Report here for more info on how the market performed last year. Have questions? Contact your Nest Broker today to find out what this report means for you and to discuss your real estate goals. Interested in what’s happening in other markets? Check out all our 2019 Annual Reports here.