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Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors releases market report

CAARThe Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors has released a local home market report showing median home prices nearly $20,000 lower in the first quarter of this year compared to last year. The same report also notes that more homes are selling now, and that there are fewer houses on the market this year than last.

“It’s pretty much a flat market and it doesn’t surprise me at all,” said Barbara McMurry, president-elect of CAAR and a managing broker at Montague Miller and Co. in Albemarle County. “The median price was down, which can be bad news for a seller, but the inventory was also down. That will help stabilize prices.”

Read more in the Charlottesville Daily Progress....

Posted on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - 7:36pm

Chesapeake Bay Reports Call For More Livestock, Runoff Regulations

Last week federal officials released parts of a strategy to restore the Chesapeake Bay, according to NewsDay.com.

The report focuses on expanding regulation of large-scale animal farms and municipal stormwater runoff. Although details of the expanded regulations have not been decided, the report did mention that federal leadership and "muscle" would be used when necessary to enforce the new regulations.

This report, along with others wll be used to develop a bay restoration strategy scheduled for release on Novemeber 9th.

Because many of the Virginia localities in the Chesapeake Watershed are heavily farmed areas, many Virginia property owners could be affected. Property owners will need to ensure that their rights are protected in the process of restoring the Chesapeake Bay.

"Federal officials on Thursday began revealing the building blocks of a strategy to restore the Chesapeake Bay, using federal leadership to encourage states to cut pollution and federal muscle, when necessary, to ensure it happens.

Among recommendations in draft reports from federal agencies: expanded regulation of large-scale animal farms and municipal stormwater runoff, and requirements that increases in pollution be offset by reductions from other sources.

The details, such as how many more animal feeding operations would be regulated, have not been decided, but 'the message here is that there will be, there is a commitment at EPA to increased enforcement and increased oversight of state programs,' EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said Thursday.

The reports will be used to develop a bay restoration strategy, scheduled for release Nov. 9, that was mandated by an executive order issued earlier this year by President Obama.

The EPA said it was working with Chesapeake Bay states and the District of Columbia to establish limits for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediments. States would have to develop detailed plans on how to reduce levels of those pollutants from sources such as farms, highways and lawns. The EPA said it would step in if states don't take sufficient action.

While large operations such as industrial chicken farms would be regulated, the EPA said it would also expand regulation of municipal stormwater programs to include high-growth areas.

Jackson said the goal was to use federal leadership, and 'federal muscle when necessary.'

Agriculture is responsible for about half the pollution entering the bay, but Jackson noted there is more turf grass in the bay watershed than corn acreage and the region is much different from when bay restoration efforts began decades ago."

Read full story.

Posted on Monday, September 14, 2009 - 10:50am

VA School Construction Projects Share $71.6M in Bonds

More than $71 million in federal bonds are going to eigh projects in the state to help with school construction, according to WTKR.

This is good news for all area homeowners, even those who don't have children in these schools that will get the assistance. Improvements to schools help to make neighborhoods more marketable to new families.

"Eight projects in Virginia are sharing more than $71 million in federal bonds for school construction.

The no-interest bonds were established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. They are available to localities for K-12 school construction, renovation and land acquisition for schools.

Gov. Tim Kaine said Thursday that the bonds are part of about $191 million authorized for Virginia through the Qualified School Construction Bonds program in 2009.

The projects receiving the bonds are in Petersburg, Portsmouth, Lynchburg, Lexington, and Richmond, Fluvanna and Montgomery counties.

Allocation of the funds were made at Kaine's discretion. Later this fall, he will announce the use of the rest of the 2009 funds. Virginia expects to receive an additional $191 million from the program in 2010."

Read orginal article.

Posted on Friday, September 11, 2009 - 5:13pm

Charlottesville Area Housing Market Closer to Recovery

Today the Daily Progress reported that the Charlottesville-area housing market might be just a year away from making a recovery. One key sign of recovery is that the number of pending contracts for July 2009 was higher than in July 2008. Area analysts say that if those pending contracts turn into September's sold homes, then the housing market could make up for losses by the end of the calendar year.

"The Charlottesville-area housing market might be 12 months away from making a recovery, according to Barry Merchant, senior policy analyst with the Virginia Housing Development Authority.

Merchant spoke Thursday to the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors about the challenges facing the local housing market.

Northern Virginia’s housing market appears to have hit bottom and is seeing sales start to rebound after 36 months of decline. Central Virginia and other parts of the state have followed Northern Virginia trends on a 12-month delay, according to data Merchant presented."

Read full story.

Posted on Friday, August 7, 2009 - 1:49pm

Scottsville Unveils Farmers’ Market in New Town Pavilion

Farmers near Scottsville have a new venue to sell their produce, according to the Daily Progress. A $150,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture federal grant was the primary source of funding for the new farmers' market, which will help stimulate economic growth downtown. The pavilion constructed to house the famers' market will hopefully become a heart of the community as the town drafts a rental agreement which will allow people to rent it for gatherings such as reunions and wedding receptions.

This is a great opportunity for area homeowners to experience one way federal funding can boost a community and aid in protecting home values in rural areas.

"Scottsville cut the ribbon on a new farmers’ market pavilion on a humid Thursday evening under threatening skies.

Vendors weren’t concerned about the rain, though. The consensus opinion was the pavilion is wonderful and a definite upgrade from the tent it replaced.'

I thought the tent was going to come down on us several times when the wind got high,' Ben Poindexter, owner and operator of Ben’s Baked Goods, said.

A $150,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture paid for the bulk of the three-year project. Scottsville pitched in $10,000, according to Clark Draper, town administrator. The project came in $168 over budget, which is 'just phenomenal,' said John Garber, the architect who designed the pavilion.

Ellen Davis, the Virginia state director for rural development at the USDA, was on hand to help christen the new structure. Davis, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2006 and kept on by Barack Obama’s administration, manages a $2 billion portfolio for the state. It goes to developing anything in rural Virginia, from farmers’ markets and libraries to sewage and water systems."

Read full story.

Posted on Friday, July 31, 2009 - 11:52am

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Posted on Monday, June 15, 2009 - 12:00am