Disappointing results from the first-quarter report of the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors? Depends on your perspective. As with any housing-related or statistics-based report, one can interpret the figures in more than one way. Example: Median prices for homes dropped by $19,000 in the first quarter across the region, compared with the same period a year ago. This is clearly disappointing, but not necessarily surprising. Having gone through such tumult in the housing market, one would hope prices could show just a little pep as the economy overall is more stable than it had been in the depths of the recession. Still, prices reflect ongoing problems with job creation and demonstrate how foreclosed homes continue to pressure what sellers can expect to get. The other view? Homes selling for less money are more affordable. The lower prices helped spur a bit of demand, and Q1 sales were slightly above those from Q1 of 2010.
“The biggest issue we are facing continues to be high ‘Months of Inventory’ levels,” says a Q1 analysis from Nest Realty Group. “Most segments still maintain 10-plus months of inventory — this is just too high and tells us that prices still have downward momentum in most market segments. But with overall sales up, there are definitely some positive trends in the market.”
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