April 2023 real estate transactions in Charlottesville: Home of former Charlottesville mayor sells for under assessment

Paid subscribers get a first look at an anecdotal review of what sold in Charlottesville in April 2023 and for how much

This is the first month of anecdotal real estate transactions in Charlottesville from the second quarter of 2023. The first quarter was quite slow, according to data compiled by the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors. 

I do this work each month to try to capture a sense of the market in the time before the new zoning code goes into place. A lot of statements are made about what is definitely happening and I began this work in January 2021 because I thought it was worth checking it out some of the claims. 

Unfortunately, I lack the bandwidth to offer trends, but the 28 installments so far are an anecdotal history of what is happening. There are specific properties I am tracking to see what happens and sharing my work with the community is a way of hopefully adding nuance and complexity to the conversation.

Here are some of the basic questions that fuels the research::

• Since the Charlottesville City Council adopted an affordable housing plan in March 2021, what actual steps have been taken to protect from displacement in areas marked as Sensitive Communities? (view the plan)

• How accurate have the real property assessments from 2022 and 2023 in capturing the market? 

• Are private investors actually buying up single family homes in Charlottesville? 

• Is the future zoning enough to cause speculative purchases?

I don’t know the answers but together we can learn a lot more. 

This is work that goes out first to paid subscribers but will then be posted on Information Charlottesville. I do this work for anyone who wants to see what actually happens as opposed to what people with ideological positions insist will happen.