As has been written here over these past couple of months, there are reasons to believe that the 5 year downturn in the real estate market in Charlottesville and the Central Virginia area could be on the road to recovery.  Here are a few I happened upon this morning as I prepared for my radio show http://www.facebook.com/realestatematters or http://www.wina.com/Real-Estate-Matters/7050283. There does seems to be some glimmers of hope that causes one to be encouraged.  Here are just a few I happened upon:

New Home Starts rose again in November,

The dow could be headed for a really great year in 2011 http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Long-way-from-dog-days-2011-apf-1968909630.html?x=0 

In our market area, Listing inventory is at the lowest it has been since February of 2010 with 3230 active listings on the MLS today. December should be the 7th straight month our listing inventory has decreased which should help bring on a more balanced market.  this balance will help lead us toward recovery especially if buyers jump down off the fence and buy homes that are now reasonably priced.  the fact that www.washingtonpost.com wrote interest rates have risen recently from 4.17% to 4.83% should encourage some home purchasers to act before they lose even more buying power.

time will tell, but what we have been predicting does seem to be coming to fruition.