February 2025 was a slow month for property transactions in Charlottesville

We’re in a time of the American economy worth documenting. Of course, you might expect me to say something like that given that I’ve spent a lot of my years documenting whatever moment I was in at the time. One of the things I’ve been tracking for some time is the property market in Charlottesville.

February was a slow month and this edition doesn’t really get into any of the trends and there’s no speculation about any of it. As part of my work, I routinely go through property transactions and then share the information.

Paid subscribers in Substack got to see this first before being posted publicly here. There are now over four years of these anecdotal summaries of each month’s real estate transactions in the city.

This is currently the only written perk for paid subscribers. I would like to offer more but my main goal is to have as much of this information available for as many people as possible.

I often take some of these stories and use them for the basis of other stories. The first one for this month ended up being fleshed out in C-Ville Weekly. I’m very curious about how things work and am grateful to have other outlets to explore the stories of this community.

This edition is perhaps the shortest yet. I do not post transactions where money doesn’t change hands unless there’s something interesting. I am trying to draw everyone’s attention to the sharp increase in property values from 2020 to 2025.

A sincere thank you to paid subscribers and especially those I have not yet written to personally. That’s what I will be turning my attention to as this day continues.

February 4, 2025

• The first transaction this month is an example of how a community land trust can make the price of a place to live much more affordable for a homeowner. In February 2022, the Piedmont Housing Alliance purchased a single-family attached house at 741 Prospect Avenue for $162,000. In that year, the land value was assessed at $40,000 and the structure was assessed at $130,900.
  
  There were two transactions on this date. In the first, the Piedmont Housing Alliance transferred to a partnership between themselves and the Piedmont Community Land Trust. In the second, an individual purchased the structure for $160,000. According to the deed, the Piedmont Community Land Trust will lease the land to the new homeowner. The 2025 assessment for the improvement is $195,300. (Residential Neighborhood A, 0.08 acres)
• A single family attached house with two units on Longwood Drive built in 1979 in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood sold for $420,000. That’s 13.7 percent below the 2025 assessed value of $486,700 and 32.86 percent above the 2020 assessment of $316,200. (Residential-B, 0.185 acres)

February 6, 2025

• A newly constructed house in the city’s side of the Lochlyn Hill community sold for $1,073,000. The structure has four bedrooms. The land value for the lot is $190,000. (Residential-A, 0.106 acres)
• Farooqui Remodeling LLC of Staunton purchased 1601 Antoinette Avenue in the Fry’s Spring Neighborhood for $295,000. That’s 44.08 percent below the 2025 assessment of $527,500. The 2020 assessment was $383,100. In December, the company purchased a home in the Locust Grove neighborhood for $260,000 and sold it for $318,900 six weeks later.

• An entity associated with the Jefferson Scholars Foundation has purchased 127 Observatory Avenue in the Jefferson Park Avenue neighborhood. An entity called Clarke Court Real Estate Holdings LLC paid $375,000 for the property and the three bedroom house built in 1920. This transaction is 6.67 percent below the 2025 assessment of $401,800 and 41.14 percent above the 2020 assessment of $265,700.
  
  This property is adjacent to 108 Clarke Court, an apartment complex the Jefferson Scholars Foundation purchased in August 2011. That property is adjacent to the main headquarters for the Jefferson Scholars Foundation which was built on the site of a former historic house that had been designed by architect Eugene Bradbury. In November 2022, the Jefferson Scholars Foundation purchased property across the street on Maury Avenue that had been slated for 64 apartment units. (Residential-C, 0.107 acres)

• A three bedroom house at 517 7 ½ Street SW in the Fifeville neighborhood sold for $220,000. The new owner is Accord Property LLC. That’s 26.74 percent below the 2025 assessment of $300,300. The last time this property changed hands was in June 2024 when it appears to have been gifted to a relative. (Residential Neighborhood A, 0.152 acres)

February 13, 2025

• A three bedroom townhouse on Junction Lane in the Belmont-Carlton neighborhood sold for $545,000. That’s 6.82 percent above the 2025 assessment of $510,200 and 39.56 percent above the 2020 assessment of $390,500. This unit was built in 2019 as part of the Belmont Station development. (Residential-C, 0.06 acres)

February 14, 2025

• A three bedroom townhouse built in 2006 on Melbourne Park Circle sold for $450,000. That’s 8.51 percent above the 2025 assessment of $414,700 and 63.4 percent above the 2020 assessment of $275,400. (Residential Mixed Use 3, N/A)
• A single-family attached home on Rock Creek Road in the Orangedale section of Fifeville sold for $315,000. That’s 19.77 percent above the 2025 assessment of $263,000 and 97.24 percent above the 2020 assessment of $159,700. (Residential Neighborhood A, 0.083 acres)

February 18, 2025

• A three story house built in 1960 on Lester Drive in the Greenbrier neighborhood sold for $545,000. That’s 8.4 percent below the 2025 assessment of $595,000 and 34.73 percent above the 2020 assessment of $404,500. (Residential-A, 0.447 acres)

February 21, 2025

• A single-family attached house in the 700 block of Prospect Avenue sold for $290,000. That’s 14.85 percent above the 2025 assessment of $252,500 and 117.07 percent above the 2020 assessment of $133,600. This unit had previously been held a company called Realty Holdings who purchased it and three other properties in July 2024 for $875,000. (Residential Neighborhood-A, 0.095 acres)

February 24, 2025

• A three bedroom house built in 1963 on Wayne Avenue in the Meadows neighborhood sold for $510,000. That’s 3.17 percent below the 2025 assessment of $526,700 and 76.23 percent above the 2020 assessment of $289,400. (Residential-A, 0.466 acres)

February 26, 2025

• A four bedroom house built in 1959 on Angus Road in the Meadows neighborhood sold for $470,000. That’s 5.26 percent above the 2025 assessment of $446,500 and 128.49 percent above the 2020 assessment of $205,700. (Residential-A, 0.544 acres)
• A two bedroom house in the 1000 block of Elliott Avenue in the Belmont-Carlton neighborhood sold for $289,000. That’s 23.97 percent below the 2025 assessment of $380,100. (Residential-C, 0.26 acres)

February 27, 2025

• A three bedroom house built in 1969 on Moseley Drive sold for $497,500. That’s 1.41 percent above the 2025 assessment of $490,600 and 49 percent above the 2020 assessment of $333,900. (Residential-A, 0.332 acres)
• A 996 square foot condominium in the Linden Town Lofts in the Belmont-Carlton neighborhood with two bedrooms has sold for $320,000. That’s 2.47 percent above the 2025 assessment of $312,300 and 42.1 percent above the 2020 assessment of $225,200. (Residential-C, N/A)

February 28, 2025

• A four bedroom house in the 200 block of Huntley Avenue built in 2012 sold for $765,000. That’s 26.51 percent above the 2025 assessment of $604,700 and 79.32 percent above the 2020 assessment of $426,600. (Residential-A, 0.11 acres)
• A four bedroom house in the 2300 block of Banbury Street sold for $415,000. That’s 8.23 percent below the 2025 assessment of $452,200 and 22.74 percent above the 2020 assessment of $338,100. (Residential-B, 0.25 acres)
• A vacant lot with a Preston Avenue address but off of the street sold twice on this day. Twin Creeks Capital LLC bought the land from the Hardware River Company and then sold the land to Cardinal Ventures Inc for $110,000. (Residential-A, 0.23 acres)
• A three bedroom house in the 1000 block of Locust Avenue sold for $950,000. That’s 34.12 percent above the 2025 assessment of $708,300 and 112.52 percent above the 2020 assessment of $447,000. (Residential-C, 0.459 acres)

Before you go: This edition was originally sent out on April 20, 2025 to paid subscribers of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Usually these get posted over here in a week, but there were eddies in the space-time continuum. If you’d like to support the work, check out this page!