Every three months, the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors provides a snapshot of the real estate market across the six localities in the Thomas Jefferson Planning District.
“The CAAR area housing market was flat overall this quarter,” reads a summary of the latest edition.
The report for 2026’s third quarter shows a slightly slower market than the same time in 2025 with a continued increase in the median sales price. That figure increased 4.1 percent to $468,606 up from $450,000.
Overall more homes were on the market with 1,495 active listings compared to 1,128 in 2025. The number of closed sales was relatively flat at 992 in 2026, two more than a year before. The median number of days on the market increased to 22, up from 18.
Albemarle had 612 active listings in the third quarter of 2026, up 44.7 percent. The number of active listings in Nelson went up 43.5 percent from 92 to 132 while in Greene County there were 106 compared to 77 in 2025. A total of 173 homes were on the market in Fluvanna.
Mortgage rates are higher than a year ago with a weekly average on October 22 at 7.32 percent for a 30-year fixed rate and 6.68 percent for a 15-year fixed rate.
“Listing growth has been consistently strong in the region in recent quarters, and if this trend holds, buyers who remain active in the market will have more options to choose from and will likely have less competition amid higher mortgage rates,” the summary continues.
As with most reports, there are variations depending on jurisdiction. There were 4.8 percent fewer homes sold in Albemarle and 7.5 percent fewer in Greene County. Sales in Fluvanna County were exactly the same with 113.
Volume was up 7.1 percent in Charlottesville with 105 homes sold, up 5.7 percent in Louisa County with 204 homes sold, and up 12.9 percent in Nelson County. Those actual numbers are 85 homes sold in the third quarter of 2025 compared to 95 in 2026.
Median sales prices were up in all localities except Greene County where the figure dropped three percent from $376,000 to $377,450.
Fluvanna’s median sales price increased 0.4 percent to $277,450. In Albemarle the median rose 2.6 percent to $550,000 and the increase was 2.9 percent to $495,000.
There were double-digit percentage increases in the remaining two localities. The median sales price in Louisa increased ten percent from $418,297 to $460,000. The number in Nelson County went up 11.1 percent from $414,000 to $459,950.
The report also includes data going back to 2020 which shows a trend where the outlying counties have caught up with high median sales prices in Albemarle and Charlottesville. For instance, the median sales price in Nelson County in the third quarter of 2020 was $237,000 making that a 94 percent increase in six years.
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Paid subscribers cover the cost of conducting research for this article which was originally published in the November 10, 2026 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. You can either subscribe through Substack or make a charitable contribution.
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