Charlottesville's Forest Lakes Real Estate Market is Hot !

Information from our local Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors MLS indicates that out of about approximately 1,400 homes in Forest Lakes indicates there are just 25 for sale, only 3 of which are deemed distressed properties, and just a scant few for rent. In the past thirty days there have been seven homes go under contract. Could it be that there is only three months of inventory? If you are looking for a great place to live that's beautiful, clean, safe and convenient to everything, please give Forest Lakes a look.

Forest Lakes is a Charlottesville bedroom community situated in northern Albemarle county. It is convenient to everything including downtown Charlottesville, UVA, the Medical Center, and NGIC. Residents enjoy many amenities including two swim and tennis clubs, a large fitness center, 12 miles of paved jogging trails, neighborhood elementary and middle schools. And if investment dynamics and market trends are your forte, then you know that all real estate markets are local. Well if our local Charlottesville Forest Lakes neighborhood market is indicative of market trends then this market is looking rosey. Between the period of 1/1/2009 and 6/30/2009 there were 11 sales of single family homes. This year 2010 during the same period there have been 34 sales of single family detached.

A Week in Review

Even with a whirlwind of news this week – from General McChrystal’s departure to the longest tennis match in the history of Wimbledon – real estate remained a major focus. Sales of new single-family homes were down 32.7 percent to a record low. Sales of previously owned homes, although up 19.2 year over year, fell 2.2 percent. Rounding it out, mortgage applications dropped to their lowest level since 1997.

All of these drastic numbers and record lows have some arguing about the dependence of the housing market on government support. That argument may heat up, as the Senate voted down the bill which would have extended the closing deadline for the home buyer credit to September 30 from June 30.  It probably didn’t help that an audit found prisoners fraudulently receiving the tax credit.

In good news, pricing of homes rose for a second straight month. In California, prices rose 23 percent in May.  Speaking of California, state legislators are considering a bill that would redefine the obligations of many defaulting homeowners. Do you think other states will consider similar bills? What about on a national level?

Take a page out of Mortgage Bankers Association President Jim Pair’s book and counsel borrowers to not charge large purchases or change jobs as their applying for mortgages — if at all possible, they should wait until after closing. This will prove especially important as Fannie Mae’s introduced new requirements to recheck a borrower’s finances shortly before closing. In other advice for your consumers, Fannie Mae’s “unusual hardships” policy provides relief for homeowners with problem drywall. Pass it along!

Fannie Mae also announced this week that in an effort to deter the trend toward strategic defaulting, it will temporarily deny new loans to borrowers who deliberately default and walk away from their homes. Who would have thought a measure like this would have been necessary?

Forest Lakes continues to show stabilized value.

Forest Lakes a Charlottesville bedroom community in northern Albemarle county is convenient to everything including downtown Charlottesville, UVA, the Medical Center, and NGIC. Residents enjoy many amenities including two swim and tennis clubs, a large fitness center, 12 miles of paved jogging trails, neighborhood elementary and middle schools. Out of about approximately 1,400 homes in the neighborhood our MLS indicates there are just 27 for sale, only 4 of which are deemed distressed properties, and just a scant few for rent. If looking for a great place to live that's beautiful, clean, safe and convenient to everything, please give this neighborhood a look.

Forest Lakes Single Family Homes Sales Triple Since Last Year !!

And if investment dynamics and market trends are your forte, then you know that all real estate markets are local. Well if our local Charlottesville Forest Lakes neighborhood market is indicative of market trends then this market is looking good. Between the period of 1/1/2009 and 6/20/2009 there were 11 sales of single family homes. This year 2010 during the same period there have been 34 sales of single family detached. Also looking at the combination of attached and detached homes over the same period the sales have doubled from 23 to 52.