Charlottesville, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Quinton Beckham, principal broker for KW Alliance, joined Cville Right Now Live to share timely insights. Reflecting on the holiday season and the pressing challenges in the local housing market, Beckham offered valuable perspectives on inflation, tariffs, and the barriers to achieving affordable housing. 

“It’s a little bit cheaper than last year, but it’s still way more expensive than 2019,” Beckham said, referencing the Virginia Farm Bureau’s Turkey Index, which reported an average Thanksgiving dinner for ten costing $81.07 this year, a $10 drop from last year but still higher than pre-pandemic levels. 

Transitioning to broader economic issues, Beckham highlighted the potential impact of tariffs under future policies and their downstream effect on housing, noting that increased tariffs and rising government debt often stimulate inflation. He also stressed that these economic pressures could further intensify the challenges of affordability and accessibility in the already constrained housing market.

Beckham emphasized the primary hurdle to affordable housing: supply constraints. “Until we have inventory, there’s no opportunity to have affordable housing,” he said, critiquing zoning limitations and resident opposition to new developments within Albemarle County. 

Listen here for the full conversation: