Report ranks Charlottesville as Virginia’s least affordable housing market

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - A new analysis has ranked Charlottesville as Virginia’s least affordable housing market, pointing to a combination of high home prices and limited housing supply.

The report from Compare the Market compared estimated home values with average incomes across Virginia to determine how affordable it is to purchase a home in different housing markets throughout the Commonwealth.

According to the analysis, the estimated value of a typical home in the Charlottesville area is just over $534,000. Based on Virginia’s average annual salary of about $70,000, the report estimates it would take the equivalent of 7.6 years of income to purchase a typical home.

Richmond, Harrisonburg, Staunton-Waynesboro and Blacksburg all ranked as more affordable housing markets than Charlottesville.

Amanda Spigone, president of the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors, said the ranking reflects a basic supply-and-demand challenge.

“People want to live here and when you don’t have a whole lot of supply and there’s a lot of demand, that’s a pretty simple economic equation and therefore prices are going to continue to go up,” Spigone said.

While the report highlights the challenges facing prospective homebuyers, Dave Norris, executive director of the CAAR Foundation, said improving affordability will require increasing both the overall housing supply and the number of homes within reach of working families.

“Increase the ability of local workers to afford the housing that is here and increasing the supply overall but also increasing the supply of housing that’s affordable,” Norris said.

The report identifies Charlottesville as the least affordable housing market in Virginia based on its methodology comparing estimated home values with average statewide incomes. Housing professionals say increasing the supply of homes, particularly affordable housing, will be an important part of improving affordability over time.

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