It is time to take a look at the sales statistics for the Charlottesville area for the month of May. Unfortunately, WordPress is giving me problems with picture uploads, so I will do my best to convey the information without the use of fancy graphics. Hopefully I can have the issue resolved in time for the June stats.
May 2007
Overall, the Charlottesville area was down 21% in May compared to last year (308 sales v. 390 sales).
The biggest percentage drop was in Greene County. Greene county’s may sales were 73% lower than last year’s monthly total (13 v. 35).
The City of Charlottesville took the prize for biggest actual drop. The city saw a dip in sales of 37 closed transactions which was 37% lower than last year. My guess is that the lack of condo sales is largely responsible for the drop.
Every other area dipped as well, but the percentages were lower– Albemarle -6%, Fluvanna -10%, Nelson -40%. While Nelson County’s percentage drop was large, this number only represented 7 fewer closed transactions.
Year-to-Date 2007
So far this year, sales in the Charlottesville area are 17% lower than the pace set in 2006. Every individual area is lower as well– Albemarle -8%, Charlottesville -37%, Fluvanna -12%, Greene -37%, Nelson -21%
The most interesting thing to me is not the drop in sales, but the change in the median home price. The median home price for the entire area is down 1%.
The area median is being held down by Albemarle and Nelson Counties. The median home price in Albemarle has dropped 10% so far this year ($301,545 v. $336,718). The median in Nelson has dropped 15% ($260,000 v. $307,500). No matter how you look at it, that is significant. Albemarle has historically been a stellar performer in the area.
It is especially significant in light of the fact that the median for the year has increased in every other area– Charlottesville +11%, Fluvanna +10%, Greene +7%.
It will be interesting to monitor the median price as the year goes on. I fully expected overall sales to be lower this year, but if the median price drops, that would most certainly be headline-grabbing news.
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Did you see that according to the OFHEO that Charlottesville home prices rose 7.99% in the first quarter of 2007 vs. the previous year?