5100 Forest Hill Ave, affectionately known as that house (among other things) is officially on the market. The price? $269,500. Given the Keystone Kops-style “renovation” this property has undergone (not to mention the mere $62k assessment from the city), I suspect that’s wishful thinking at best.

Anyone want to start a sale date/price pool?

We wrote back in November about the condo project intended for the foot of the Lee Bridge, specifically that the inaccurately named Manchester on the James had shrunk from a 17-story high rise to 4 stories. Today’s T-D takes a further look at the project and residents’ concerns.

Some residents in the South Richmond neighborhood remain concerned, saying they fear the developer’s decision to remove the term “condominium” and trim the size of units from 800 square feet to 650 square feet will make for renter and not owner-occupied residences. Plans call for up to 200 units.

The developer maintains that sale rather than rental is the goal, that the units will not be targeted towards students, and that the buildings will have a more traditional exterior to fit better with the neighborhood.

Courtesy of Jeremy Gaudreau:

The last month and a half have been a tough time for home sales around the nation, but the Richmond Market is still stable. The Southside’s Market Absorption Rate increased from a previous 1.93 month level in April to 4.4 by mid-June. The problem hasn’t been with a decrease in buyers, but an increase in inventory. April saw 87 properties put on the market, and the number jumped to 123 in May. As of the middle of June we have already seen 86 properties listed. This is common in a spring market, but usually the amount of buyers increases also. However with the recent sub-prime fallout and a dramatic rise in the amount of foreclosures, many First-Time homebuyers have been hesitant to purchase that new home. These numbers still look good for the Southside area as the Greater Richmond area is seeing an increase from 2.13 to 5.54 months of inventory.

Read more >

The804.com takes a look at 5-year home value appreciation. Two southside neighborhoods get mentions: Westover Hills slots in at 4th lowest in the city at 68%, while Forest View (that little triangle tucked in between Westover Hills Blvd, Forest Hill, and the railroad tracks, which also happens to be your author’s neighborhood) was 4th highest in the city (and apparently 6th in the general metro area) at 125%.

You can decide on your own whether that’s good or bad.

[via]

Jeremy was nice enough to put together a brief real estate report for the general area.

For April our “Price Trend Analysis” showed there were only 1.93 months of inventory in the “Hills and Heights” Neighborhoods. This compares with 2.13 months of inventory in the Greater Richmond Metropolitan Area and a National Inventory level of a little over seven months for March (the latest figures available).

Read the whole report here.