Wow!  What a year!  2013 has now drawn to a close, and we witnessed some exciting milestones in our local real estate market.....

• 1000+ home sales for the first time since 2007
• 2nd consecutive year of (modestly) increasing home prices
• A speedier market marked by a 16% decline in days on market
• and much more!
  

Click here to download my full January 2014 Harrisonburg and Rockingham County Real Estate Market Report as a PDF, or read on for some highlights.



As noted above, in 2013....

• Home sales increased (+17%)
• Median sales price increased (+1%)
• Median days on the market declined (-16%)
  
• Inventory levels declined (8%)

All of these changes move us towards a healthier real estate market.



Home sales were solid through the year, finishing out (1,013) well above 2012 home sales levels (864).  It seems likely that we will see somewhere between 1,050 and 1,100 home sales in 2014.



Inventory levels continue to decline, which is typical for this time of year, though we are now seeing the lowest inventory levels we have seen in over 5 years.  This has several effects:

• GOOD:  Gets us closer to a balance between supply (homes for sale) and demand (buyers in the market).
• BAD:  Fewer choices for buyers to choose from.
• GOOD:  Less competition for sellers.
  

While we are still seeing more foreclosures (222 in 2013) than is historically normal for this area (50-100 per year), it is encouraging to see foreclosures starting to decline at the same time that home sales are increasing.  This should result in greater market stability on into the future.



Sellers -- you ought to be encouraged that you may need to negotiate less in 2014 (depending on how your property is priced) -- buyers only negotiated an average of 4.2% off of the (final) list price of properties in 2013, as compared to 5.3% in 2011.



An astonishing 37% of homes that sold in 2013 closed within 90 days of having first been listed.....and an additional 29% sold in the following three months.  This lead to an overall median of 120 days on the market for those homes that did sell in 2013 -- this does not account for homes that were listed in 2013 but did not sell.

There is a LOT more the full report, so click here to download the full January 2014 Harrisonburg & Rockingham County Real Estate Market Report.

An Important Caveat:  Yes, our overall housing market is improving.  But no, that does not apply equally to all price ranges, locations and property types. We can chat about your specific property to see whether that segment of the market is performing better or worse than the overall market.

And as always, if you're interested in talking to me about buying a home in Harrisonburg or Rockingham County.....or if you are interested in selling your current home.....just drop me a line by email (scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com) or call me at 540-578-0102.
  

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Have any questions? Contact Scott Rogers at 540-578-0102 or scott@funkhousergroup.com