Local housing market defies national trends
Home sales were abysmal across much of the United States in 2007, but the trend has not been as devastating in Rockbridge County.
Nationwide, existing home sales for November were 20 percent lower than home sales in November 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors. But home sales in the Lexington-Buena Vista area actually increased 56.25 percent from November 2006 to November 2007.
"It's important to remember that all real estate is local and that what we're seeing nationally may not be the case in many Virginia localities," said Virginia Association of Realtors President Pat Jensen in a press release earlier this month.
Local builder William Campbell, owner of Campbell Construction and Development Co. in Lexington, said he feels comfortable with the area's housing market.
“Rockbridge County is different than other places. It's protected," he said. Campbell said Virginia Military Institute, Southern Virginia University and Washington and Lee University are reasons the area's housing market is doing better than in other places.
“People are always going to go to school; the universities will bring in new people," he said.
The Commerce Department recently announced construction rates for new homes plunged nearly 25 percent from 2006 to 2007, the largest decrease since 1980. Construction rates for the Lexington Buena-Vista area were not available, but Campbell said his company has “noticed a slowdown" in business and was “probably 30 percent busier last year."
The company is busy for now, but Campbell said he has made some adjustments in his business strategy to “change with the times."
“The homes that are $250,000, $300,000, and $500,000 -- nobody wants them," Campbell said. His construction company had been building custom homes and larger houses, but Campbell said he realized there was more demand for houses in the $150,000 to $200,000 price range.
He now tries to sell more houses for a lower profit per house. Campbell believes other contractors are selling for a greater profit but are not selling as many homes.
"We're building something where we don't have any competition," he said.
While the Lexington-Buena Vista area has been doing well, Lawrence Yun, chief economist with the National Association of Realtors, offered some hope for the rest of the country. Although statistics were worse in November than in November 2006, he said, month-to-month sales have begun to decline more slowly and the market has begun to stabilize.
Campbell said the same is happening locally.
"The market is fixing itself. It may take six months or it may take two years."
Produced by
Washington and Lee
journalism students.
Lead Supervisors:
Prof. Brian
Richardson
Prof. Phylissa
Mitchell
Editing supervisor:
Prof. Pamela Luecke
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd