I wanted to share the below email that I sent to my sellers this morning in case you are thinking of buying or selling a home in Roanoke, Virginia and surrounding areas. This gives a little insight to how things are doing as well as revealing our year to date housing market statistics for Roanoke, Virginia.
If you are thinking of buying or selling a home, our team would love the opportunity to interview with you and apply for the job of helping you. Please call us at 540-725-7727, email us at christycrouch@aol.com or visit our website to discover more about our team and to see the homes we currently have for sale.
As we are now into the first of June, I wanted to share our year to date market statistics with you. I’ve included each individual area so you can see exactly what’s going on in your area and then a summary of our market at the end that reveals the average of all.
The market continues to be much slower than I ever imagined it would be at this time this year. I have recently had conversations with lenders, other Realtors both in our area and in other locations around the US, my broker, our title company, and several other small business owners who’s business is directly impacted by the housing market. Unfortunately, it is slow all around, we are dealing with an over supply of inventory right now and it’s taking much longer for homes to sell than what we anticipated for this year.
Please rest assured that we want your property to sell just as quickly as you do. Our goal is to create customers for life and we realize this can’t be done without doing a great job for you and at the same time getting results. We also don’t get paid unless and until it sells and we are all in this business full time and it’s what feeds our kids :).
I know it’s very frustrating for you as a seller in today’s market. Things have changed so much and we have much less actual showings due to the internet, you don’t get to see what we’re doing behind the scenes here and you probably get tired of hearing about the websites and to pay attention to those reports but just like most of you probably do more shopping online than you did ten years ago, home buyers are no different. We’re actually working with a buyer right now who’s relocating with a job transfer and has to be here to start by mid July, they are buying their new home sight unseen from the internet and all the information they are able to gather from there.
We have to accept that the market and how business is done has changed and will continue to change even more as we head further into this decade. The only constant in this world is change and to resist it is to make it worse. Open houses don’t work anymore, it’s not safe and it’s primarily nosy neighbors, professional open house goers, people looking for decorating ideas, or simply people with nothing better to do. I can assure you that if a buyer is serious about finding a home and is qualified to buy a home, they are NOT not going to buy your home because there wasn’t an open house. They are going to ensure they’re aware of ALL homes that are for sale based on what they’re looking for not just those holding an open house.
Print advertising is becoming less and less effective as well. Buyers are on their smartphones not browsing through the Roanoke Times anymore. I would venture to say the newspaper won’t be in print for too many more years.
I am paying a small fortune to be a premier agent on the various websites that we use and while there are technical difficulties with them and they aren’t perfect, I can assure that more and more of our business is coming from the internet everyday and this is what’s working to sell homes and gain the most exposure. After exposure you have to really look at your curb appeal, condition, and price. In the end it boils down to price, condition, and location that determine what a buyer will choose to look at and ultimately make an offer on.
Last week I blogged about student loan debt and just yesterday I had a first time buyer inquire about buying and when we had her speak with our lender, sadly she can’t qualify until the student loan debt she has is either paid off or lowered significantly.
Hopefully financing will continue to open up for home buyers again. I am afraid that the threat of home interest deduction being taken away, and the whole health care reform nightmare that we’re dealing with are having an impact on the market as well. Whether you agree or disagree with the health care reform it’s been a lot of change and stress for many in many different ways.
As I mentioned in my email last week forecasts are showing that the market is supposed to continue to pick up and I’m holding out and praying for that. I don’t mean to be the barer of bad news this morning but want to educate you on what is truly going on out here in the housing market.
Please let me know what questions you have and what further information I can provide that would be helpful to you. We will continue to keep you posted as we proceed with things. Here is the market statistics I mentioned above.
Property Type Year to Date Activity Report
For 01/01/2014 To 6/3/2014
|
Property Type
|
Area
|
Current Active
|
New
|
Pend
|
Sold
|
Sold Volume
|
Average Sales Price
|
DOM
|
CDOM
|
% Of List
|
Coop Sales
|
Coop Volume
|
Expr
|
Withdrawn
|
|
Residential
|
0110 – City of Roanoke – Downtown
|
13
|
7
|
4
|
1
|
640,000
|
640,000
|
196
|
208
|
85.3
|
1
|
640,000
|
3
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
0120 – City of Roanoke – South
|
75
|
89
|
23
|
43
|
14,139,202
|
328,819
|
154
|
194
|
95.4
|
38
|
13,305,202
|
15
|
4
|
|
Residential
|
0130 – City of Roanoke – SW
|
186
|
264
|
59
|
123
|
20,718,710
|
168,445
|
94
|
135
|
95.6
|
110
|
19,302,593
|
53
|
3
|
|
Residential
|
0140 – City of Roanoke – NW
|
146
|
169
|
27
|
80
|
6,251,812
|
78,148
|
129
|
176
|
93.5
|
66
|
4,872,462
|
52
|
8
|
|
Residential
|
0150 – City of Roanoke – NE
|
203
|
264
|
40
|
115
|
12,002,992
|
104,374
|
110
|
179
|
95.5
|
102
|
10,704,642
|
55
|
6
|
|
Residential
|
0160 – City of Roanoke – SE
|
51
|
55
|
7
|
25
|
1,401,051
|
56,042
|
112
|
182
|
93.1
|
23
|
1,255,051
|
13
|
3
|
|
Residential
|
0170 – City of Roanoke – Garden City
|
28
|
38
|
7
|
19
|
1,366,000
|
71,895
|
105
|
133
|
93.3
|
15
|
1,125,300
|
10
|
1
|
|
Residential
|
0210 – Roanoke County – North
|
187
|
262
|
68
|
137
|
25,439,376
|
185,689
|
111
|
168
|
97.2
|
113
|
20,729,926
|
55
|
6
|
|
Residential
|
0220 – Roanoke County – East
|
57
|
93
|
26
|
49
|
8,286,069
|
169,103
|
95
|
153
|
97.0
|
46
|
7,793,569
|
21
|
3
|
|
Residential
|
0221 – Roanoke County – Town of Vinton
|
51
|
62
|
9
|
27
|
3,342,079
|
123,781
|
114
|
169
|
96.2
|
24
|
2,973,079
|
17
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
0230 – Roanoke County – South
|
324
|
406
|
104
|
158
|
35,655,389
|
225,667
|
108
|
154
|
96.9
|
140
|
31,385,275
|
95
|
7
|
|
Residential
|
0240 – Roanoke County – West
|
122
|
131
|
26
|
48
|
10,359,019
|
215,813
|
121
|
201
|
97.0
|
43
|
9,601,519
|
29
|
1
|
|
Residential
|
0300 – City of Salem
|
196
|
247
|
37
|
91
|
15,285,669
|
167,974
|
103
|
175
|
95.9
|
79
|
13,618,419
|
77
|
5
|
|
Residential
|
0400 – Franklin County
|
760
|
594
|
84
|
187
|
43,669,336
|
233,526
|
198
|
305
|
94.0
|
165
|
38,322,236
|
191
|
20
|
|
Residential
|
0600 – Bedford County
|
541
|
461
|
77
|
154
|
34,690,311
|
225,262
|
189
|
274
|
93.5
|
128
|
30,212,935
|
123
|
12
|
|
Residential
|
0601 – Town of Bedford
|
43
|
38
|
5
|
14
|
1,676,500
|
119,750
|
170
|
218
|
92.8
|
11
|
1,256,500
|
13
|
1
|
|
Residential
|
0700 – Botetourt County
|
322
|
334
|
64
|
113
|
24,901,707
|
220,369
|
139
|
191
|
95.5
|
100
|
22,457,207
|
97
|
3
|
|
Residential
|
0800 – Craig County
|
30
|
18
|
5
|
10
|
1,770,950
|
177,095
|
214
|
251
|
89.9
|
8
|
1,689,950
|
2
|
3
|
|
Residential
|
0900 – City of Radford
|
5
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
|
|
46
|
46
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
1000 – Montgomery County
|
26
|
40
|
34
|
9
|
912,900
|
101,433
|
112
|
126
|
96.6
|
8
|
847,900
|
10
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
1100 – Floyd County
|
68
|
55
|
8
|
16
|
2,516,250
|
157,266
|
181
|
219
|
92.2
|
9
|
1,155,250
|
24
|
3
|
|
Residential
|
1200 – Patrick County
|
5
|
6
|
0
|
0
|
|
|
174
|
189
|
|
0
|
|
4
|
1
|
|
Residential
|
1300 – City of Martinsville
|
6
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
144,500
|
72,250
|
158
|
158
|
97.7
|
1
|
122,000
|
3
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
1400 – Henry County
|
32
|
39
|
3
|
10
|
926,400
|
92,640
|
120
|
123
|
90.7
|
7
|
756,500
|
20
|
1
|
|
Residential
|
1500 – City of Danville
|
4
|
8
|
1
|
2
|
100,100
|
50,050
|
89
|
89
|
90.5
|
2
|
100,100
|
2
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
1600 – Pittsylvania County
|
54
|
48
|
8
|
12
|
1,339,790
|
111,649
|
179
|
238
|
90.5
|
8
|
898,790
|
15
|
1
|
|
Residential
|
1700 – Halifax County
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
|
|
52
|
52
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
1800 – Charlotte County
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
|
|
68
|
68
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
1900 – City of Lynchburg
|
13
|
12
|
4
|
5
|
738,900
|
147,780
|
193
|
207
|
95.6
|
4
|
616,400
|
3
|
1
|
|
Residential
|
2000 – Campbell County
|
15
|
20
|
2
|
5
|
805,500
|
161,100
|
141
|
142
|
90.8
|
4
|
591,500
|
6
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
2100 – Appomattox County
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
|
|
143
|
143
|
|
0
|
|
1
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
2200 – Amherst County
|
4
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
78,000
|
78,000
|
139
|
139
|
86.8
|
0
|
|
2
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
2500 – Rockbridge County
|
14
|
10
|
1
|
3
|
712,000
|
237,333
|
182
|
195
|
100.6
|
3
|
712,000
|
7
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
2600 – City of Covington
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
|
|
136
|
136
|
|
0
|
|
2
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
2700 – Alleghany County
|
10
|
19
|
3
|
8
|
1,040,900
|
130,112
|
113
|
147
|
89.0
|
3
|
111,000
|
13
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
2800 – Giles County
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
|
|
11
|
11
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
3000 – Pulaski County
|
6
|
7
|
1
|
2
|
132,400
|
66,200
|
97
|
97
|
98.6
|
1
|
49,900
|
0
|
1
|
|
Residential
|
3100 – Wythe County
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
|
|
79
|
79
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
3200 – City of Galax
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
48,000
|
48,000
|
138
|
138
|
98.0
|
1
|
48,000
|
0
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
3300 – Carroll County
|
4
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
165,000
|
82,500
|
376
|
376
|
94.7
|
2
|
165,000
|
2
|
0
|
|
Residential
|
9900 – All Other Counties/Cities
|
7
|
7
|
1
|
3
|
218,387
|
72,796
|
100
|
109
|
95.4
|
3
|
218,387
|
2
|
1
|
| Subtotal |
3617
|
3827
|
741
|
1475
|
271,475,198
|
184,051
|
143
|
208
|
95.2
|
1,268
|
237,638,591
|
1037
|
95
|
|
Christy Crouch, Realtor, 