http://www.woodlandsofcharlottesville.com/feeds/blog Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:00:00 GMT Blog for the Woodlands http://www.woodlandsofcharlottesville.com/blog/7/Charlottesville%3A+One+of+the+10+Best+Places+to+Live The Woodlands of Charlottesville is ideally located in one of Ten Best Places to Live in America, according to AskAboutRealEstate.net. Below is an excerpt taken from the list about Charlottesville. h4. The Ten Best Places to Live These ten places are each special in their own way. The only downside may be that it's hard to keep a secret, so most of them have seen considerable increases in home prices over the last couple of years. Charlottesville, VA Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, most areas of this idyllic city are accessible by foot or bicycle. Charlottesville enjoys clean air and water, and pleasant weather year-round, highlighted by especially beautiful fall foliage. Nearby Shenandoah National Park offers a wealth of recreation opportunities. Charlottesville is home to the University of Virginia, which strengthens the area's healthy economy by providing steady jobs and a wealth of amenities and entertainment. Homes are not cheap (median home price $225,000), but the cost of living is manageable. The city's low unemployment rate and significant recent job growth promise continued prosperity. As more and more people learn about this year's best city, Charlottesville may find staying affordable and sprawl-free is its greatest challenge! Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.woodlandsofcharlottesville.com/blog/7/Charlottesville%3A+One+of+the+10+Best+Places+to+Live The Woodlands <info@woodlandsofcharlottesville.com> http://www.woodlandsofcharlottesville.com/blog/6/Charlottesville%27s+Rising+Economy The Woodlands is excited that Charlottesville's condo and real estate market has been able to prosper during the country's economic slump. Charlottesville's real estate has not been hit as hard as many other towns, and in fact has down well. See the article below. By Brian McNeill Published: November 23, 2008 Thanks in large part to the area’s fairly stable mega-employers — such as the University of Virginia, Martha Jefferson Hospital, the National Ground Intelligence Center and the Defense Intelligence Agency — the local labor market has fared moderately well. The unemployment rate in the Charlottesville Metropolitan Statistical Area — which includes Charlottesville and the counties of Albemarle, Greene, Fluvanna and Nelson — was 3.4 percent in September. While the jobless rate was higher than it was a year ago, the Charlottesville area has a lower rate than Roanoke, Richmond, Danville, Harrisonburg, Lynchburg, Winchester and the state and nation as a whole. With the Charlottesville region’s steady work force and high quality of life, the local housing market has not been as devastated as elsewhere in Virginia. The local real estate market has undoubtedly taken a hit, but the Virginia Association of Realtors reported on Oct. 22 that sales were down across the state during the third quarter of 2008. Some localities saw huge drops in sales: 81.4 percent for Danville; 43.4 percent for Williamsburg; and 26.4 percent in Roanoke. The Charlottesville region’s sales fell by 21.7 percent in the third quarter to its lowest point in seven years, compared with the third quarter of 2007, according to a market report by the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors. Yet real estate industry professionals see some signs for optimism. Jeff Gaffney, chairman of the new homes division of Real Estate III, said the Charlottesville region’s glut of housing is beginning to be whittled away and the average number of days it takes to sell a home has decreased. The number of homes listed for sale has dropped from 3,530 last month to 3,427 on Thursday. The average number of days on market fell from 128 in October to 113 last week, according to CAAR. “We’ve had a decline of inventory of housing for the last four months straight,” Gaffney said. “It’s still certainly a buyer’s market, but it’s headed toward balance. Maybe we’re turning a corner.” Two bright spots of the area’s economy are the tourism and restaurant industries. The latest lodging reports show Charlottesville-area hotel rooms are being booked at roughly the same rate as in 2007, bringing a steady number of business and leisure travelers to the region. “We’re about where we were last year, which is pretty phenomenal in this economy,” said Allie Baer, interim executive director of the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Tougher days are probably ahead of us, but we’re about as good as good gets right now.” Restaurants in Charlottesville and Albemarle County have continued to do brisk business, despite an overall decline of discretionary spending, according to a database of sales tax receipts compiled by The Daily Progress. The restaurants enjoyed roughly $180 million in sales between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, marking a 6.5 percent jump over the previous year-to-date total. Most Charlottesville-area businesses are being cautious during the downturn, but some start-up firms are beginning to emerge, said Susan Stimart, business development coordinator for Albemarle County. Stimart has been conducting interviews with CEOs and managers of existing companies, which have reported anecdotally that some longtime employees have left longtime firms such as Sperry Marine to form their own businesses. “We’re seeing growth in our economy due to the talent and skill of our work force,” she said. “We’re growing our own, basically.” Fuel prices are another happy sector of the Charlottesville region’s economy. Gas prices have plummeted locally and elsewhere over the past month, bringing the area’s average price to $1.97 per gallon on Thursday — down from $2.99 a month earlier and $3.07 a year ago, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic. Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.woodlandsofcharlottesville.com/blog/6/Charlottesville%27s+Rising+Economy The Woodlands <info@woodlandsofcharlottesville.com> http://www.woodlandsofcharlottesville.com/blog/5/A+Turn+in+the+Housing+Market Now is the time to invest in a new home at The Woodlands of Charlottesville. The housing market is beginning to turn and The Woodlands offers the finest in luxury living. The article below highlights the recent changes in the housing market. h1. A Turn in the Housing Market? By Dennis Byrne Is it possible that the housing market has turned? Blamed for just about everything bad that has happened recently to the economy, housing sales, I dare say, are showing signs of picking up. At the risk of being considered a lunatic, I say this for reasons of systematically gathered data, personal experience and common sense. First the data, which hasn't and won't get as much attention they deserve, considering the fact that everyone has been blaming the dismal housing market for as far back as recent memory can take us. The good news is that the National Association of Realtors said sales of existing-home sales-including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops-for September jumped 5.5 percent higher over the previous month. They are 1.4 percent higher than September 2007. That's the first time that sales have risen compared to a year earlier since November 2005. Could this be a turnaround? Let's look at another NAR measure: its "pending sales of existing homes" index most forward-looking barometer of residential sales because it records a sale when a contract is signed, rather than at closing, which can be months later. In August, the latest month available, it rose 7.4 percent over July. More significantly, that's 8.8 percent higher over August 2007. These are the kinds of numbers that should be on the front page over every newspaper in the country--but they weren't. The second reason for my optimism is personal experience: My wife, Barbara, sells residential real estate in Chicago's northern suburbs, and she is having the best second half of a year in sales in a long time. That follows a first half of 2008 when there were nearly no sales. The closings are coming as fast as they ever have been, and the number of active buyers and sellers are impressive, even though inventories remain high. She first noticed increased activity this spring when she told me her phone began ringing. How to explain this when other indicators are so gloomy? She isn't sure; I'd say it's her superlative sales skills and networking. Or perhaps it's the peculiarities of market she works in. (Realtors constantly remind everyone that the real estate "market" isn't a single phenomenon, but a combination of regional, demographic and other factors that are masked by average sale figures.) Whatever the explanation, her market is picking up impressively. (Here I'll acknowledge my personal interest in looking on the bright side, but it occurs to me that the bright side could use a few friends.) Third, it only makes sense. This flies in the face of most "experts," whose boots aren't on the ground and who predict no turnaround until possibly late next year. Credit markets won't loosen up until then, they explain; no one can get a loan, even the creditworthy. It's not true. The credit logjam already is easing. True, your credit has to be good, but loans are available. And the loans are cheaper. Freddie Mac says the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.04 percent in September from 6.48 percent in August; the rate was 6.38 percent in September 2007. Yes, home prices continue their decline (and you can bet that's what the media will focus on), but that will only fuel a turnaround. Lower prices and lower interest; what more can the prospective homebuyer want? A residential real estate market turn-up has to come some time, and, guardedly I say the signs gradually are starting to look positive. "What we are seeing," said Lawrence Yun, the Realtors' association chief economist, "is the momentum of people taking advantage of low home prices, with pending home sales up strongly in California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Rhode Island and the Washington, D.C. region. It's unclear how much contract activity may be impacted by the credit disruptions on Wall Street, but we're hopeful most of the increase will translate into close existing-home sales." "Homebuyers in July were hampered by overly stringent lending criteria in the months before the government takeover of Fannie and Freddie," he said in a statement. "August shows some unleashing of pent-up demand before the credit crisis accelerated in September." Yeah but, the pessimists will say, the increase is probably the result of the higher number of foreclosures, so it's not really good news at all. They point out that while one index shows that California home sales rose 65 percent in September, the biggest year-over-year increase in at least two decades, it's the result of buyers grabbing up foreclosed homes at discounted prices. Yes, and so? This is what has to happen before the housing market can recover substantially. Home prices already have been driven down--bad news for homeowners, but good news for buyers. Just as high quality stocks are a bargain in a depressed market, so is a quality home in a depressed housing market. A large inventory of available homes also is good for prospective buyers. So is continuing affordable interest rates. Also, the dramatic slide in energy costs will help boost consumer confidence, an essential ingredients of a housing and economic recovery. My instincts, tell me that pent-up demand is waiting for just the right moment, the right positive development, to spring loose. That will happen if we get more good news like the strong jump in pending and actual home sales. That won't happen as long as leading media outlets continue to bury the good news, as the New York Times did in its virtual non-reporting of the strong increase in pending sales. Unfortunately, there's a political component to the lack of media interest in the good news, so it doesn't appear that we'll be treated to any reinforcing good news. Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.woodlandsofcharlottesville.com/blog/5/A+Turn+in+the+Housing+Market The Woodlands <info@woodlandsofcharlottesville.com> http://www.woodlandsofcharlottesville.com/blog/1/Artful+Lodger+finishes Recently, interior designer Katie Gaffoglio met with Caroline Minsky of Artful Lodger (Interiors Store in Downtown Charlottesville) to outfit a few of the homes at The Woodlands. Picture are available in the media gallery. Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.woodlandsofcharlottesville.com/blog/1/Artful+Lodger+finishes The Woodlands <info@woodlandsofcharlottesville.com>