Archive for January 2008
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Foreclosure: 300 13th Street, Grottoes |
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Property To Be Sold: 300 13th Street, Grottoes Date/Time of Sale: Monday, January 28, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. Original Principal Amount of Deed of Trust: $121,500 Assessed Value: $99,500 Terms of Sale: A bidder's deposit of $12,100.00 or 10% of the sale price, whichever is lower, will be required in cash, certified or cashier's check. Settlement within fifteen (15) days of the sale, otherwise Trustees may forfeit deposit. For Information Contact: Professional Foreclosure Corporation of Virginia C/O Shapiro & Burson, LLP 236 Clearfield Avenue, Suite 215 Virginia Beach, VA 23462 (757) 687-8822 Per the Daily News Record, January 14, 2008 | |
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Redistricting Harrisonburg & Rockingham County Public Schools |
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Continued growth in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County has brought on the construction of many new schools:
 The map to the right shows the (proposed) new elementary school districts in Rockingham County.The Rockingham County Public Schools and Harrisonburg City Public Schools web sites seem to be the best source of information for keeping up to date on the redistricting. In Rockingham County, there are four public hearings planned:
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A Brief History of Harrisonburg's Annexations |
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Annexation is the process whereby land is incorporated into an existing town or city. There have been several annexations in Harrisonburg's history, bringing the current size of the city to 11,132 acres. The largest annexation (7,450 acres) took place in 1983 --- shown in pink on the map below. (Map courtesy of the City of Harrisonburg).  Title 15.2 (Counties, Cities and Towns) of the Code of Virginia outlines how annexations are to take place. Here are some recent annexation related news items: Mount Crawford seeks to annex 243 acres to expand to 467 acres. Dayton discusses annexing along Route 257. Could Harrisonburg and Rockingham County see another annexation anytime soon? According to Brian, Harrisonburg's Director of Economic Development says the city has no plans to annex any portion of Rockingham County (source: Daily News Record). On a related note, according to Keith Markel, one of Harrisonburg's previous city planners, most of the zoning frustrations stem from the 1983 annexation. Much of that land was zoned R-3, which allows anything from single family homes to apartment complexes. However, this past year, the right to build apartment complexes in R-3 zoned land was removed. | |
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Foreclosure: 332 Chestnut Oak Lane, Penn Laird |
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Property To Be Sold: 332 Chestnut Oak Lane, Penn Laird Date/Time of Sale: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 11:30 a.m. Original Principal Amount of Deed of Trust: $625,000 Assessed Value: $825,600 Terms of Sale: A deposit of $62,500.00 or 10% of the sales price, whichever is lower, (in certified funds or cash of not more than $10,000.00) will be required of the successful bidder at time of sale. Settlement is to be made within 15 days. For Information Contact: Glasser and Glasser, P.L.C. and/or Atlantic Trust Services, L.L.C., Substitute Trustees, Crown Center Building, Suite 600, 580 East Main Street Norfolk, VA 23510, File No. 61185 (757) 321-6465 Call between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Per the Daily News Record, January 11, 2008 | |
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Single Family vs. Duplex --- Where Did the Price Difference Go? |
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One of my readers asked a great question --- essentially, why do some city duplexes seem to be selling for just about as much as similar single family homes. Let's take a look, starting with a few examples of somewhat pricey duplexes . . .
These are just a few examples, but one thing that becomes clear is that there are quite a few city duplexes (many one-story, with only 2 bedrooms, without significant square footage) that are selling for similar prices to relatively new single family homes. What is the explanation? Here are some of the likely contributing factors:
Of note, here are several newer duplex developments fitting the profile mentioned above: Cullison Creek | Emerald Drive Estates | Meadow Pointe Village | Southside Heights | Spring Oaks | The Glen At Cross Keys | |||||
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Eastern Rockingham County Lot Sales - The Ups and Downs |
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 Over the past several years, prices of lots in eastern Rockingham County, particularly in the Peak View school district have increased dramatically. However, in 2007, the average sales price dropped below the 2006 average sales price. 2003: $47,546 (81 sales) 2004: $55,354 (112 sales) 2005: $89,112 (98 sales) 2006: $118,075 (51 sales) 2007: $110,875 (35 sales) As you can above, during this same time, demand for lots decreased rather significantly. This was compounded by the fact that the inventory of available lots increased during the same time --- there are currently 109 lots available in the Peak View school district, as follows:
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Assessed Values - What and Where . . . |
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The assessed value of a property is the value assigned to the property by the local assessor's office, for the purpose of determining how much you will pay in taxes. Harrisonburg has a great "Understanding Assessments" guide on the Commissioner of the Revenue section of their web site. How to determine the assessed value of a property: For Harrisonburg, visit the new Real Estate Information System to view assessed values for properties, and lots of other property information. For Rockingham County, visit their GIS web site, where you can search for a property, and obtain its assessed value. Additionally, if you have trouble with either of these systems, feel free to e-mail me (scott@cbfunkhouser.com) --- I look up assessed values quite frequently, through both of the systems above, and through the MLS. I'd be happy to look up a property for you and e-mail you back with the assessed value. Real World Assessments Let's take a look at a few real world assessments compared to recent sale prices to see how they compare, starting with the three real estate closings from the past few weeks in our MLS for Harrisonburg . . .
It becomes clear that there is not a magical percentage that can be used to determine the market value of your home based on assessed values. Finally, here's one example of a house (that I am marketing) that is for sale at a price below the appraised value: 6210 Dotts Lane, Penn Laird (click here for details) Asking Price = $319,000 Assessed Value = $333,200 With amazing views, a large lot, a private neighborhood, schools in close proximity, superior construction quality, and a price below appraised value, it is a great opportunity! | |||
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Virginia Association of Realtors - November 2007 Sales Figures |
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 On Friday, January 4, 2008 the Virginia Association of Realtors released November 2007 sales data (report, stats) for the various parts of Virginia, separated by local Realtor association. Before getting to the numbers, and some observations, please bear in mind that these are measuring things slightly differently than how I pull my monthly sales stats. According to VAR figures, sales in November '07 (94) were up 6.82% from November '06 (88). Year-to-date sales for 2007, however, are still down 10.61% compared to 2006. When looking at pricing trends, median and average calculations contradict each other. The median sales price for November '07 ($196,500) was down 1.75% from November '06 ($200,000). However, the averages sales price for November '07 ($225,744) was up 1.24% from November '06 ($222,970). Interestingly, buyers are almost as active as they were last year --- as measured by the number of contracts written. In November '07, 89 contracts were ratified, whereas in November '06, 92 were ratified (a decline of 3.26%). Year-to-date '07 shows 1,152 ratified contracts, which is a 4.48% decline as compared to 1,206 ratified contracts for year-to-date '06. Finally, we're doing a little better than average as compared to the other parts of the state --- as measured by the number of sales year-to-date, as compared to last year (to-date). Our market (Harrisonburg/Rockingham) shows a decline in number of sales of 10.61%, making us the 10th best market in a field of 23 markets that have a combined decline of 14.64. The best markets right now are Southwest Virginia (+3.00%) and the Dan River Region (-4.71%). The worst markets are the Northern Neck (-75.31%) and the Eastern Shore (-48.06%). Source: Virginia Association of Realtors | |
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A Wider View On The Harrisonburg Real Estate Market |
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Some people don't like month-by-month analysis, as monthly figures in a market of our size can be deceiving. Every so often, I also look at quarterly figures to look for larger trends. Here's the latest, with a bit of commentary below the graph . . .  The main observation I would make is that though December 2007 sales figures were quite low, the fourth quarter of 2007 finished out stronger than the four quarter of 2006. This is, perhaps, a change in momentum, as Q1, Q2 and Q3 in 2007 were all lower than in 2006. The graph above shows the number of sales per month as reported by the Harrisonburg/Rockingham MLS in all of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County | |
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December 2007 - Slower Sales After Two Strong Months |
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As seen below, the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County real estate market experienced a change in direction this month. October and November of 2007 showed sales quite a bit stronger than 2006. However, December 2007 numbers fell quite a bit below October '07, November '07, as well as December '06.  January sales figures should be interesting, as they have been very consistent for the past several years. The Details: The graph above shows the number of sales per month as reported by the Harrisonburg/Rockingham MLS in all of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County | |
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Foreclosure: 9075 Centreville Road, Bridgewater |
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Property To Be Sold: 9075 Centreville Road, Bridgewater Date/Time of Sale: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 4:00 p.m. Terms of Sale: A deposit of $20,000.00, cash or certified check, will be required at the time of sale with settlement within fifteen (15) days from the date of sale. For Information Contact: ReConstruct Company 209 Business Park Drive Virginia Beach, VA 23462 (800) 281-8219 Call between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (CST) Original Principal Amount of Deed of Trust: $274,400 Assessed Value: $260,600 Per the Daily News Record, January 4, 2008 | |
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Foreclosure: 2998 Earmans Loop, Harrisonburg |
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Property To Be Sold: 2998 Earmans Loop, Harrisonburg Date/Time of Sale: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. Terms of Sale: A deposit of $15,000.00, cash or certified check, will be required at the time of sale with settlement within fifteen (15) days from the date of sale. For Information Contact: ReConstruct Company 209 Business Park Drive Virginia Beach, VA 23462 (800) 281-8219 Call between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (CST) Original Principal Amount of Deed of Trust: $199,500 (12/28/06) Assessed Value: $102,600 Per the Daily News Record, January 4, 2008 | |
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Will We Have Too Much JMU Student Housing? |
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Last week the Daily News Record reported that 3,700 residential units are under construction, which seemed to be quite a bit of housing for JMU students. Below is a bit more information that sheds some light on the matter (facts and figures provided by Harrisonburg Community Development, summary and commentary by me) . . . The "3,700 units" referenced in the Daily News Record includes projects in various stages ranging from recent rezonings to projects for which building permits have been issued. Some of the housing projects included in the "3,700 units" of housing shouldn't be aligned with college student enrollment growth: 1. Some projects were included that are just about complete and occupied (parts of Liberty Square, Beacon Hill, Millwood Condos, Sunset Heights-Holmes Addt., Westfield, and Willow Ridge). 2. Some projects are not aimed at student occupancy (Christophel Properties, Founders Way Condos, Hidden Creek Apts., Hillmont Apts., Lady Slipper Ct., Beacon Hill, Liberty Square, Miller's Homestead, Millwood Condos, Park Rose Place, The Quarry, Townes of Bluestone, Townes at Wellington Park, Wishing Well Estates II). The largest remaining projects, aimed at students would be: Campus View Condos (84) 2-3 BR units (84) 4 BR units Copper Beach (78) 1BR units (78) 2BR units (118) 3BR units (158) 4BR units Latitude 38 (96) 3 BR units (132) 4 BR units Purple and Gold TH (132) 4 BR units Sunchase (24) 4 BR units Hunters Ridge (16)-(24) 4 BR units Totaling these yields about 3,300 beds aimed at students, which turns the debate back to how many more JMU students will be enrolled in coming years. I would estimate 2,800 based on JMU and SCHEV figures --- the Daily News Record continues to estimate 4,100. No wonder developers keep coming on the scene to build more student housing! In the end, we'll just have to wait and see which projects are actually built out. Some developers may decide to hold off on their projects as they learn more about the market, or as their bankers learn more about increasing vacancy rates. | |
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Foreclosure: 2991 Taylor Spring Lane, Harrisonburg |
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 Property To Be Sold: 2991 Taylor Spring Lane, HarrisonburgDate/Time of Sale: January 15, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. Terms of Sale: A bidder's deposit of $13,200.00, cash or certified check, will be required at the time of sale with the settlement and full payment of the purchase price within (15) fifteen days from the date of the sale. For Information Contact: Nectar Projects, Inc 104 N. Bailey Ln. Purcellville, VA 20132 540-751-1267 Call between 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. http://www.nectarp.com Original Principal Amount of Deed of Trust: $135,000 Assessed Value: $197,900 Comparable Properties For Sale: http://taylor_springs.scottprogers.com Per the Daily News Record, January 2, 2008 | |
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Local Housing Inventory Drops 4% Overnight |
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As we all flipped our calendars to the new year, 29 homes in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County came off the market. This reduced the inventory of homes for sale from 807 to 778, in other words, a 4% drop. It is possible that it was an arbitrary drop. There were likely many listing agreements with expiration dates of 12/30/2007. It will be interesting to observe whether there is a corresponding surge of new or renewed listings in the coming days. | |
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Scott Rogers
Funkhouser Real
Estate Group
540-578-0102
scott@funkhousergroup.com
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Commonwealth of Virginia
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