Condos Cushion the Fall in Charlottesville Area

August 7, 2006 |

I said that I would wait a while to release the Charlottesville area real estate sales statistics from now on; I decided that one week is long enough.  Here they are:

July Year-Over-Year

                              2006      2005      %Change

Albemarle                147        214        -31%

Charlottesville          80          61         +24%

Fluvanna                  50          66         -24%

Greene                     18         28          -36%

Nelson                      15         40          -62%

Totals                      310       409         -24%

Year-To-Date

                             2006       2005       %Change

Albemarle                963       1212          -21%

Charlottesville         509         335          +34%

Fluvanna                 315         381          -17%

Greene                    178         174          +2%

Nelson                     141         232          -39%

Totals                    2106        2334         -10%

As always, these numbers represent closed residential transactions as reported in the Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS MLS.  It does not include private transactions.  The areas selected represent the Charlottesville Metropolitan Statistical Area.

In reality, the numbers don’t appear all that bad (unless you are selling a home in Nelson County).  While July did see a 24% decrease compared to last year, the area is only down 10% for the entire year.  When I first saw this, I became suspicious of the Charlottesville numbers due to condo conversions and construction.  When I separated the condo sales out of the numbers I discovered the following:

YEAR-TO-DATE, CHARLOTTESVILLE HAS EXPERIENCED A 392% INCREASE IN CONDO SALES

392% is 196 sales in the city for 2006, compared to 50 in 2005.  I don’t care how you look at it, that is a tremendous increase.  It also confirms my suspicion that the market in the City of Charlottesville has been buoyed by condo conversions and construction.  If the number of condo sales had remained flat in 2006, then Charlottesville would still be up, but only 8%; and the area would be down 17%.  It would appear that the recent increase in condo conversions and construction could not have come at a better time for the Charlottesville area real estate market.

Posted by Daniel | Filed Under Albemarle, Buying, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Greene, Market Statistics 

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