Archive for July 2014
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Pace of 2014 Home Sales Continues To Creep Up On 2013 |
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 At the start of this month, home sales for the year were down 7% from last year. July, thus far, has shown further gains --- as this year's pace of home sales is now only 5% down from last year. Stay tuned....the remainder of the summer market may yet help us catch back up to last year's pace of home sales! | |
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First TryAthlon in Harrisonburg set for August 9 |
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 Sign (your child) up for the first ever Youth Try-athlon in Harrisonburg to take place on August 9th. My son, Luke, will be competing, and I hope to see many of you and your kids out there as well. Per the City website.... This new program is geared toward being a fun non-competitive introduction to triathlons. The emphasis is completion over competition. All finishers will receive an event medal. There will be two age groups for this event, ages 5-9 and ages 10-14.Sign up today at http://www.harrisonburgva.gov/athletics. | |
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New Model Home at Heritage Estates, an active adult community with a pool |
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 A new model home was just completed at Heritage Estates, an active adult community in Harrisonburg with a swimming pool and located adjacent to Heritage Oaks Golf Course. Enjoy the photos below, check out the entire set on Flickr, and if you, or your parent(s) are considering a move and would be looking for a low maintenance home in a community with a swimming pool and friendly neighbors, let's meet over at the new model home at Heritage Estates so I can tell you a bit more about the community.       Learn more about Heritage Estates at HeritageEstates.us. | |
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Foreclosures slowing down in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County? |
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 There are only five foreclosure sales scheduled in the future at this point. This is a much lower level than I've observed in many years. This could be an abnormal lull -- perhaps we'll start to see more sales scheduled in the near future, but at this point, nearly everybody in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County seems to be keeping up with their mortgage payments. View upcoming foreclosure sales at HarrisonburgForeclosures.com. | |
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How to begin thinking about building a custom home |
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 I have several clients who are thinking about building a custom home. This is a helpful piece from Charles Hendricks [ Custom Home - how to get started ] that can get you started thinking about whether you are going to start by meeting with an architect, drafter or builder. Read more here: Custom Home - how to get started | |
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More buyers are viewing properties this Spring and Summer than were doing so last year |
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 After a slow February, March and April --- as it pertains to showings --- you can see that there have been many more buyers in the market this year during May, June and July as compared to the same months last year. * July 2014 data is extrapolated from 7/1/2014-7/22/2014 data. | |
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Home values going up despite sales prices going down? |
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 Tracking median sales prices can sometimes be deceiving....
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Sustainability Conference to be held in Harrisonburg in September |
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 Registration is now open for the Mid-Atlantic Sustainability Conference. A special offer to the first 30 people to register will get a free copy of the National Green Building Standard ICC 700-2012. This conference features industry experts in the subjects of sustainable sites, alternative energy, legal green, building science, energy code, design solutions, energy modeling, HVAC design, indoor air quality, and zero energy homes. Speakers include Allison Bailes, Sam Rashkin, Ross Spiegel, and Peter Yost just to name a few. Sign up today for the Mid-Atlantic Sustainability Conference, to take place on September 4 - 6 at James Madison University. | |
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Site of new Grocery Store on Mt Clinton Pike |
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 click here for a larger image The rezoning was approved for a new grocery store at the corner of North Main Street and Mt. Clinton Pike. The image below shows the intended layout of the site.  From the July 9, 2014 Daily News Record article.... City Council unanimously approved a rezoning request Tuesday night that paves the way for a grocery store to be built at Mount Clinton Pike and North Main Street, perhaps by next spring. | |
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Progress at Ramblewood Park |
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 click here for a larger image Progress is being made on Ramblewood Park, nestled between Ramblewood Road and Interstate 81. The first baseball fields are starting to come together. Click here to learn more about the vision for the whole of Ramblewood Park which is to include softball fields, soccer fields, dog park, disc golf, skateboard park and biking trails!. | |
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Buyers are finding more single family homes for sale, but significantly fewer townhouses, duplexes and condos |
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 Buyers are finding significantly more (+13%) single family homes to choose from these days (as compared to a year ago) but significantly fewer (-18%) townhouses, duplexes and condos. | |
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Lyric thermostat from Honeywell adjusts the temperature when you are on your way home |
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 Not only can the Lyric thermostat from Honeywell adjust the temperature for you when you're on your way home, you can also control it from your smart phone. Learn more via Honeywell, or read up at Fast Company... 3 Ways The Lyric Thermostat Makes The Smart Home Brilliant "...the Lyric is giving us a taste of just how deeply the next wave of 'smart home' appliances will integrate with our lives--and how little they will ask of us, the users..." [read more] | |
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Mortgage Rates Remain Below 4.25% |
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 Rates continue to stay quite low this summer -- hovering between 4% and 4.25%. Whether you are buying a re-sale or new construction home, this is a great time to lock in your housing costs with these tremendously, historically low rates. | |
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Act NOW to bring bowling to Court Square |
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 The Bowling Company at Court Square wants to build a six lane bowling alley in downtown Harrisonburg where you can bowl five types of bowling with pin boys to set up your pins. Watch a video and learn all about their hopes and dreams here. Join me in making a financial contribution towards their campaign on indiegogo. | |
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Homes removed (and moved) for Reservoir Street expansion |
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 Be sure to check out the levitating house on Reservoir Street. As of a few days ago, this house (shown above) was hovering a few feet above the ground -- presumably being moved away from Reservoir Street to make room for the road expansion. Many homes along Reservoir Street had been removed entirely to make room for the wider road -- but this one is apparently being (slightly) relocated. Details about the Resevoir Street expansion can be found here. | |
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JMU proposes to permanently close (to vehicles) sections of Mason Street, Grace Street |
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 click here for a much more interesting larger version of this image JMU is hoping to close a section of Mason Street and Grace Street internal to land that they now own on both sides of each street to make the area more pedestrian and bike friendly. Read lots of details in this article from yesterday's Daily News Record. | |
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Local Housing Market Heats Up in June 2014 |
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 Featured Property: 7894 McGaheysville Road, Penn Laird, VA I just published my monthly report on the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County real estate market and the local housing market started heating up in June 2014. Jump to the full online market report, download the PDF, or read on for highlights....  As shown above, there were several encouraging signs in June 2014....
Care for some even more exciting news?
June 2014 home sales (108) were the highest month of June home sales seen anytime recently. Thus, the record high number of home sales in May and June is starting to make up for the disappointingly low number of home sales in March and April. Care for some even MORE exciting news?
A record number of home buyers signed contracts in June 2014 -- marking an astonishing, surprising, remarkable 51% increase over June 2013.  As shown above, despite strong sales in May and June, we're still tracking 7% behind the pace of 2013 home sales. We'll have to wait and see if the remainder of 2014 (spurred on by strong contracts in June 2014) can help us meet and/or surpass last year's count of 1,014 home sales. Further treats you'll find in my full market report (online or PDF) include....
Care to read about all of these juicy details (and more!) in my full 30-page market report? You can read it online or download the PDF. Also, 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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Port Republic Road Development Update |
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 click here to view a larger version of this image Construction is booming on Port Republic Road in the vicinity of the Sentara RMH Medical Center, to include....
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Predictions for the Harrisonburg Commercial Real Estate Market |
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 This is a good read for those interested in the Harrisonburg commercial real estate market and trends seen recently and that we're likely to see in the future. Thanks Tim! | |
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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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