Category Archives: Market Updates

Why You Should – And Shouldn’t – Buy A House

Not counting the posts I’ve written and saved as drafts and never actually posted (often times for very good reason), this is the 1000th post on this blog.  What started during Christmas 2006 as an experiment suggested by a friend has turned in to something that I count as crucial to my understanding of the market and how to best explain it – sometimes poorly, I’ll admit – to the people I work with. I’ve been thinking for quite a while about how to acknowledge the 1000th post … it seems like a milestone of some kind. Read More

What’s the List Price to Sale Price Ratio in the New River Valley

I was sifting through recently closed sales the other day and noticed a property that had sold for its list price.  While I certainly don’t have a problem paying full price for a good deal, when I looked a little more closely I noticed that the list price had been dropped to the sales price … on the same day that the closing took place.  Someone emailed me later that day and asked me what the typical home in the New River Valley sold for relative to it’s list price.  Well, if I used the example of the house mentioned above, 100%. Every property that goes on the market sells for every dollar of the list price … but you and I know that’s probably not the case. Read More

Townhouse & Condo Sales Figures Through September

Tuesday I reported the median sales prices and activity levels of single-family homes through September YTD, and based on the 65% increase in visitors to that post it seems people are really interested in what’s happening in the New River Valley real estate market right now.  But that only looked at detached homes … a good portion of our market every year includes townhomes and condominiums, so here’s a look at those sales figures for the YTD.  Remember … this is just looking at the median sales prices for 24060, 24073 and 24141 area codes. Quite a different look from detached homes, which showed relatively stable pricing throughout the year, and a significant volume decrease, since the expiration of the homebuyer credit on June 30th. The condo and townhome product has long been a driving force in the New River Valley real estate market.  With a constant supply of “kiddie condos” and townhomes being purchased by Radford University and Virginia Tech parents for their college-aged kid, alumni looking to relive their glory in their alma mater’s backyard, or investors looking to capitalize on a constant turnover of ready renters, townhouses and condos have been a large part of the sold inventory every year.  Over the last 18 months however, financing for condos has become difficult to come by, and economic uncertainty has kept many from purchasing second homes and investment properties.  You can see that reflected in the graphs above, with values moving up or down as much as 30% month over month, and the number of sales dropping – sharply – after the credit expiration of June 30th. The numbers don’t lie.  Townhomes and condos are difficult to sell in the New River Valley right now, and they’re a good deal for buyers with money to put down (25% or more).  It’s as simple – or complicated – as that.

My Mistake – Here’s The Real Look at the New River Valley Real Estate Market

I’ve spent the morning working on Activity Reports for my listings – they’re a look at a very refined, specific price point for each listing, and shows what’s happened in the New River Valley market in that price point during the last month.  One of the things I found interesting was just how different our market is right now.  While the Activity Report looks at a very specific section of the market, I also wanted to know what real estate had been doing across the entire residential market … the numbers were surprising. Read More

“Around The Property” – By Sarah Cox, The Roanoke Times 12/20/09

Sarah Cox of The Roanoke Times recently did a piece reflecting on the real estate market in 2009 – it looks like it’s going to be a multi-part story, below is copy of the first part.  Images embedded are my own, taken from the Virginia Employment Commission website. Read More