January 2023 transactions in Charlottesville: Sales volume down as the year gets underway; Former Greyhound station sold to national firm

Another parcel-by-parcel look at the real estate market in Charlottesville as times change

Note: The Week Ahead newsletter for this week will be out tomorrow morning given the existence of Presidents’ Day.

This is the 25th summary of property transactions that I have put together for paid subscribers of this newsletter to have a first look. Since the beginning, the idea is to track what is happening parcel by parcel as a way of understanding what is happening in a market where so many fundamental changes have been made in recent years. What kind of year will this be? 

Just before 2023 got underway, the City Council amended and reaffirmed a Comprehensive Plan that calls for additional density as one tool to bring down the cost of housing through increased supply. There’s also an affordable housing plan that calls in Council to spend $10 million a year in spending to subsidize units. 

For most of 2022, I listed the Future Land Use Map designation for each parcel. Now we have more specifics. At the end of January, the city released the first of three “modules” of the new zoning code that will establish the rules for what can happen and where. In this summary, each parcel now lists what the draft zoning code designates for each property as well as the acreage. 

We also have the 2023 assessments, which appear to reflect much of what has been reported in these property transaction summaries for the past year. In cases where a property owner is not stressed, buyers are still willing to pay over the assessment to get access to land. 

We also appear to have a slowdown as well as an increase in homes available for sale. Mortgage rates appear as they are headed to further increases, making it much more expensive to borrow money to finance land use projects. So, what kind of a year will it be? Let’s take it one month at a time. Paid subscribers get a first look at this material before it ends up on Information Charlottesville. But please do consider signing up to help support this research. If you do, Ting will match your initial payment!