After you’ve been to Disney World, the Tilt-a-Whirl at the county fair seems a little disappointing. Similarly, after the wild ride that was local real estate in 2005, this year’s tamer market would seem to signal that housing prices and sales are seriously slowing. But in its third-quarter market report, the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors stresses that what looks ho-hum this year is actually still a very strong market, historically speaking.
In the third quarter of 2006, home sales were down sharply from the same period in 2005—20 percent, to be exact. Sales for the year as a whole are down too, but less dramatically at 11.5 percent. Not only are fewer homes being sold, their median price this quarter ($269,000) was just below last year’s third-quarter figure ($274,900).
Still, median prices overall are still rising, around 9 percent so far this year. And the report points out that these numbers put 2006 on a comparable track with 2004, the market’s second best year ever. To return to the roller coaster metaphor: In 2004 we were still climbing, in 2005 we reached the apex of the track, and now we’re on the way down.
We may not be plummeting, though—more like coasting gently downward. CAAR is at pains to call the current market “healthy.” You can tell it’s healthy, the report explains, because the inventory of homes for sale (currently 2,992) is nearly double last year’s (1,681). That’s good news for buyers, and here’s a little more: You’ll have 70 days to consider buying the average home on the market right now, and that’s 14 days more than you had in the third quarter last year.
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