CAAR report: Real estate sales remain “sluggish” in third quarter of 2024

Three quarters of 2024 are now in the book and the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors has released their snapshot of activity from July 1 to September 30. The market is not robust.

“Sales activity continues to be sluggish in the CAAR housing market,” reads an introduction in the report. “There were 974 homes sold region-wide in the third quarter, 6 fewer sales than a year ago, a modest 1 one percent dip.”

In 2020’s third quarter, there were 1,460 homes sold, a number that has steadily decreased each year. 

Prices are still rising with the region-wide median sales price now at $455,000, a three percent increase over the third quarter of 2023. There are also listings on the market then the same period last year. 

Activity is not spread evenly throughout the area. The number of homes sold in Greene County increased 38 percent over 2023, with 80 homes sold compared to 58 in 2023’s third quarter. There was a four percent increase in Charlottesville and a five percent increase in Louisa County. Sales were down 19 percent in Fluvanna, nine percent in Nelson, and two percent in Albemarle. 

The report also breaks down the median sales price of new construction, a figure that dropped one percent year-over-year from $510,494 in 2023 to $504,231. In 2020, the median sales price for new construction was $413,216. 

Overall median sales prices increased 26 percent in Charlottesville, 19 percent in Nelson County, 18 percent in Greene County, and eight percent in Albemarle. However, the median sales prices in Fluvanna and Louisa were both down slightly. 

As for new construction, the report notes that building permits for single family homes have increased while those for multifamily units have decreased. 

The report notes that economic conditions in Virginia may be cooling with an increase in the employment rate to 3.5 percent in August, up from 3.1 percent a year before. Mortgage rates had begun to decrease to a cut in a rate controlled by the Federal Reserve Bank, but have begun to increase once more. 

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