The number of available homes for sale decreased in most of the Charlottesville Area in March, according to the Long & Foster Market Minute report. Buckingham had the most sizeable decrease with a 39% drop, while Fluvanna County was the only one to have an increase with a 4% uptick. Home prices varied throughout the region, with Buckingham County exhibiting no change, while Greene County had a growth of 22% and Albemarle County fell by 11%. Homes sold also varied with Green County seeing a 61% increase and Buckingham County seeing a 50% decrease.  

Long & Foster Real Estate’s Market Minute report for the Charlottesville region includes the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle, Buckingham, Nelson, Fluvanna and Greene counties.

“The market isn’t really surprising in the Charlottesville area right now,” said Larry “Boomer” Foster, president of Long & Foster Real Estate, “there are plenty of people buying right now and there’s plenty of demand, we’re just lacking quality inventory.” 

With the limited supply, Foster said that now is a great time to get your home listed. “If you’re in a sweet spot price-wise and geographically, you can dictate terms to the buyer. As long as there are no upgrades that are needed to make it more buyable, there’s no reason to hesitate on listing your home,” he said.  

Foster addressed the low interest rate environment, saying that he’s surprised since “most people thought going through this year that we would see it grind higher slowly throughout the year.” However, once you take into account the volatility of the world economy, it’s not that surprising. Foster explained that “foreign investors are flocking to treasuries as a safe haven to park their money, causing the 10-year Treasury bond and the 30-year fixed rates to be held down.” 

In terms of the current spring market, Foster said that both buyers and sellers should be excited. From a buyer’s perspective, interest rates are low and home affordability is higher than expected. In February, the home affordability index went up to almost 157, meaning that someone at the median household income has 57% more money than is needed to afford the median home price. Foster said, “Homes are more affordable now than they were at any point between 1980 and 2008, so buyers are in a good spot to purchase a new home.” 

To learn more about your local market conditions, visit Long & Foster’s Market Insights. You can also learn more about Long & Foster and find an agent at LongandFoster.com.