Information Charlottesville

Some people know much more about how real estate works than others. I disclaim I own one house within Charlottesville but otherwise have no interest in using additional property to advance my material wealth. For others, this is their career. I write these because as the community seeks solutions to the high cost of housing, I feel it is crucial to have a sense of what’s happening even if I’m still learning all of the mechanics.

I will also disclaim I do make a living writing about the place around me. I’ve spent nearly fifteen years paying close attention to land use issues and I’m making a living off of it in that manner. This summary goes first to paid Substack subscribers but will be posted to Information Charlottesville on Wednesday. Thank you to the hundreds of subscribers for helping Town Crier Productions get off the ground!

This is the 13th of these reports. For this first one for this year, I’ll be posting the assessment increases for both 2021 and 2022. For some transactions, I’ll throw in sales prices over the 2020 assessment for a sense of scale. Assessments increased an average of 10.77 percent this year. 

The sales prices here are tied to contracts signed in late November or in December, so the use of the 2022 assessment is meant for illustrative purposes. This report is an exercise for all of us to review in the hopes of better understanding the forces at work.  

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