Charlottesville Virginia Real Estate

Per the Waynesboro News Virginian, some protected wetlands may be paved over to build some houses.  The county ruled against the developer (Countryside Investments) but they were given more time to come up with a better arguement.  Poor drainage and increased flooding are prime concerns for the project. In a shocking development, neighbors are opposed to the new construction.

A couple of facts I didn’t know:

• City officials cannot take the value of the wetlands themselves into consideration when evaluating development plans
• Permitting wetlands construction is a power left solely to state and federal authorities

So much for local control.

This is good stuff.  DailyProgress reports that the Albemarle County Republican Committee is seeking a substantial decrease in the county’s real estate tax rate, now 74 cents per $100 of assessed value.

The Republicans’ argument hinges on a Virginia law that requires localities to hold a public hearing if property assessments go up more than 1 percent. If localities do not hold the public hearing, the tax rate cannot be set higher than the rate that would account for the increase in assessments.

In this case, Albemarle County Republicans say the rate would fall to 58 cents per $100 of assessed value to account for the rise in assessments. That amount would give the county slightly more in real estate revenue than what it had last year - that’s the point of the law, proponents of the Republican’s view say.

Per the DailyProgress Charlottesville assessments are up big this year, hitting poor neighborhoods particularly hard.  Here’s a chart of the percent increases:

Charlottesville tax districts with the highest and lowest percentage increases in existing housing assessments:
Top 5
1. Fifeville - 32 percent
2. Venable - 27 percent
3. Willoughby - 24 percent
4. Forest Hills - 22 percent
5. (tie) 10th & Page - 20 percent
5. (tie) Ridge Street - 20 percent
Bottom 5
1. University-Maury Hills - 0 percent
2. (tie) Towles-Merryden-Ivy Terrace - 3 percent
2. (tie) Azalea Gardens-Green Valley - 3 percent
4. 28 Holmes & North Avenue Area - 6 percent
5. Little High St./E. Jefferson St. - 7 percent

From the article:

The assessments of houses in Fifeville jumped 32 percent this year, the highest rate of any tax district in the city, following a 24 percent jump the prior year. Values of homes in the Ridge Street area spiked by 20 percent, compared with 8 percent the year before.

The average increase of existing residential home assessments in the city was 16.2 percent, with the typical Charlottesville house now worth approximately $280,000, said Roosevelt Barbour Jr., the city’s assessor.

Driving the demand for houses in these communities is the old real estate mantra of location, location, location. Situated halfway between UVa and the Downtown Mall, Fifeville and 10th and Page now draw young couples like the Pearsons who are attracted by easy access to the city’s main commercial center without the necessity of owning a car. 

I’ve been involved in Central Virginia real estate for more than a decade and the best time to buy has always been “a couple years ago”.  In hindsight that means NOW.  I’ve been more bearish lately on Charlottesville, feeling like things are as high as they can sustainably be right now.  The Staunton and Waynesboro markets seem to have more runway, in my opinion.  I’m not ready to say that a single family home in Charlottesville is a bad investment, but for investment property, I think greener fields lie elsewhere.

There does seem to be an oversupply of townhomes in Charlottesville, but those prices aren’t coming down like they are in other parts of the country.  I think the developers of the condos and the apartments-converted-into-condos in Cville are sufficiently diversified in the cash-cow that has been the Charlottesville real estate economy, that they’re neither willing nor needing to sell at bargain prices to cut their losses.  They’d just as soon double down.  The real opportunity in Charlottesville seems to be for people wanting to rent those condos.  When there’s oversupply in housing, even if the owners won’t sell at a loss, they still would rather lose money with low rent than eat the entire mortgage.  Empty apartments are expensive.

Sunrise Trailer park, on ridge street near Old Lynchburg road has been purchased by the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity (see: Habitat Affiliate Buys Old Trailer Parks / Charlottesville Group is First in U.S. To Try Redevelopment Plan)   Continue Reading »

The News-Virginian (which I will commend for having top notch real-estate articles and being one of the best newspapers I’ve ever read… in Waynesboro, VA of all places!) reports that assessment values will rise 35% on average in the City of Waynesboro next year. 

Breathe property owners… OK.  now the city will likely lower the tax rate substantially, but politicans can’t resist the opportunity to use free money to fund some pet project.

Per the article:

According to a report handed out to City Council this week, an average increase of 35 percent is taking hold citywide - the single largest jump assessor John Kiger says he’s ever seen.

“It’s the biggest reassessment I’ve been involved with, period,” said Kiger, who has 22 years in the field, the last 18 spent in Waynesboro.

The Cavalier Daily has an article today about the North Fork and Fontaine Research Parks.  I was astounded to hear that North Fork was more than 500 acres.  I’ve been told that by 2020, the population center of Charlottesville would be near the intersection of 29 and airport road.  That’s incredible if true.  That said, that estimate was made with the initial, wildly optimistic projections U.Va. made about staffing levels at the research park.  Still…