It's beginning to look a lot like Fairfax


It's beginning to look a lot like Fairfax
By Scott Rogers • March 3, 2011
I attended a Realtor Association event last evening that featured the delightful music of Glick and Phillips. I had never experienced their show before, but it was a lot of fun, even if occasionally insensitive or inappropriate. :) They played a lot of songs last evening that poked fun at a variety of towns in this area such as Elkton, Grottoes, Bridgewater and Dayton -- but they also performed several songs (such as "It's Beginning to look a lot like Fairfax") that poke fun at the rapid pace of development in this area. Had I heard this song five years ago (in 2006) I would have smiled, nodded, and thought -- well, they're right, the rapid pace of development certainly is certainly eating up farmland and creating more and more subdivisions all over the county. But I had a different response last evening as I realized that the pace of development has drastically slowed down over the past five years. As you can see in the graph above, the sale of new single family homes has fallen drastically since a peak of 186 new homes in 2005 down to only 42 new homes in 2010. Thus, it seems that Harrisonburg's explosive growth into a Fairfax-like metropolis has been delayed or avoided. Also, back in 2008 I examined the breakdown of land use in Rockingham County and found that much of Rockingham County will likely never be developed (33% is owned by the government) --- and we still have an extraordinary amount of undeveloped land. Certainly, though, the source of the Glick & Phillips song inspiration was the creation of so many new subdivisions between 2000 and 2005. Below you'll see a strong concentration of those subdivisions in the area just southeast of the City of Harrisonburg, bounded by Boyers Road, Cross Keys Road, Route 33 and Port Republic Road. Click on any subdivision in the map above to jump to active listings in that neighborhood. Please know that I'm not accusing Glick & Phillips of being out of date -- but I do think the pace of development, and hopefully our community's view of development has certainly shifted over the past five years. It no longer appears that we are in danger of overtaking Fairfax. Would you agree? Receive Updates by Email Recent Articles: There Are Plenty Of Types Of Houses That Exist That Just Are Not Available To Purchase Home Sales By Price Range In The City Of Harrisonburg Are You Compromising On Aspects Of Your Next Home That You Can Or Cannot Change Later? How Much Slower Are The Winter Months In Our Local Housing Market? Rockingham County and New Home Sales Drive Surge in Area Housing Market Find The Balance Between Optimistic And Realistic Home Pricing Room Size Is Difficult To Understand Solely From Real Estate Photos How Much Would You Value Not Having To Prepare Your Home For Showings? One Out Of Four Homes Is Taking Longer Than A Month To Sell Consider The Cost Of Your Planned Renovations When Planning Your Offer
Have any questions? Contact Scott Rogers at 540-578-0102 or scott@funkhousergroup.com
Based on information from the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Association of REALTORS® or its MLS, for the period Jan 1, 2000 through Nov 22, 2024 (unless otherwise noted).
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