Archive for September 2015
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Foreclosures Continue to Decline in 2015 |
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 After peaking in 2010 at 270 completed foreclosure sales in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, we have seen declines in nearly every year since then -- down to a total of only 163 foreclosure sales last year -- and a projected 154 this year. This decline in the number of foreclosed homes (and thus decline in the number of sales of banked owned homes, potentially at lower-than-market-value) is helping to continue to stabilize our local real estate market -- and it means fewer people are losing their homes due to their inability to make their mortgage payments. Good news on both fronts! | |
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Record Setting Year for High End Home Sales |
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 Only 75% of the way through the year, we have already seen more (23) home sales over $500K during 2015 than we saw in the entirety of any of the past six years. This is a promising sign for owners of homes valued over a half million dollars.  Looking a bit deeper we see that a tremendous number of those home sales were over $600K. We have seen 15 home sales over $600K in the first nine months of this year -- well more than any seen in the past seven years.  And finally, we see that quite a few of these home sales were actually over $700K! There have been more $700K+ home sales in the first nine months of 2015 than we have seen in the past four years COMBINED! | |
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Walk Through 950 Turkey Run Road (Harrisonburg) |
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 Take a few minutes to walk through this contemporary, updated, cedar-sided home in Sunset Heights offers privacy, convenience and plenty of mature trees. Enjoy hardwood floors through much of the first floor including the dining room and family room. Enjoy the outdoors from inside in the sunroom, screened porch, and many other areas of the home with lots of windows and natural light. The first floor features a guest suite with a large bedroom, office, full bathroom and two private entrances. The upper level features four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Don't miss the expansive covered front porch, natural, exposed stone throughout much of the lot, central vacuum, two car garage, garden shed and invisible dog fence. This property is in close proximity to Hillandale Park. Click here to walk through this home, on your computer, phone or tablet. Or, visit this home's property website. Or, view high resolution photos of this home by clicking the collage below....  | |
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Walk Through This Home, 6600 Lawyer Road |
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 Enjoy privacy and views of mountains and rolling pastures as you walk through this custom-built home on one acre on Lawyer Road with a three car garage, expansive deck, screened porch, detached workshop and walk out basement. The upscale kitchen features granite countertops, cherry cabinets, cherry hardwood floors and a tile backsplash. The first floor also features a dining room, study, and two story living room with a fireplace and open stairwell. This home features a first floor master suite, two additional bedrooms on the upper level, and an expansive finished basement with a family room, library, bonus room, full bathroom, mud room, and more. Don't miss the covered front porch, intercom and whole house audio system, and extensive landscaping. Click here to walk through this home, on your computer, phone or tablet. Or, visit this home's property website. Or, view high resolution photos of this home by clicking the collage below....  | |
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Rockingham County may expand Urban Development Area |
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 Click here to download a high resolution version of this map, and a few others as well! The Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing today at 7:00 PM to receive input on expanding the its "Urban Development Area" to include the additional land shown on the maps above. This potential expansion would triple the size of the current UDA, which was established in 2011 just after Sentara RMH Medical Center opened. From the staff report to the Board of Supervisors.... "Since 2011, commercial and residential development activity has increased and Stone Spring Road has been completed. [...] Interest in the development of commercially zoned land in this same area is expected to increase as a result of the relocation and completion of Stone Spring Road and the construction of Albert Long Park."Why should this area be expanded, you might ask? Per today's DNR article... "According to county officials, an expanded UDA would put Rockingham County in a better position to compete for state money under the new prioritization process for transportation funding adopted by the General Assembly in 2014."Click here to read today's Daily News Record article on the topic. Click here to download an excerpt from the Board of Supervisor's packet. | |
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Night at the Museum tickets now available |
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 Night at the Museum - presented by the Explore More Discovery Museum - was voted one of the best charity events in the Shenandoah Valley by Virginia Living Readers This year, it will take place on Saturday, December 5, 2015 @ 7 pm. This extraordinary gala event is just for grownups and will feature a seasonal silent auction, music, and a live raffle. Featuring a "taste of downtown" with delicious food and drinks from favorite downtown restaurants in the downtown culinary district. Buy your tickets, or become a sponsor by visiting iExploreMore.com/night | |
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The Seasonality of Home Sales . . . Selling in the Fall is OK |
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 Fall is my favorite time of year. Cool weather, beautiful changing leaves, my birthday, a delicious Thanksgiving meal, time with family, candy corn, apple cider, where can you go wrong?? AND -- when looking at the full year of home sales leading up to (and including) last Fall, it seems that Fall was the second best time of the year (after summer) to sell your home. So, if you missed the Spring and Summer markets, and are considering putting your house on the market now, don't despair - there will still be some buyers looking at your home. | |
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Fear not, folks, mortgage interest rates are still below four percent |
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 For the past few years everyone has been thinking, saying, predicting that interest rates would rise. We're going to get back to 6% -- maybe higher. Or, maybe not. Taking a look at average mortgage interest rates, as I do around the middle of each month, we find that we're still below four percent. Thus, great opportunities still exist to lock in your housing costs at historically low levels relative to the interest rate on your fixed rate mortgage. Let me know if you'd like a recommendation of a lender to speak with if you are considering a purchase or a refinance. Here's to more low, low, super low interest rates!!! | |
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Surprisingly, September Sales Seem Somewhat Sluggish |
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 OK, admittedly, the month is only halfway over at this point, but thus far, buyers have been signing contracts at a slower pace than last September. Last September, 51 buyers had signed contracts in the first 15 days of the month -- this September, only 33 buyers have done so. Hopefully we will see some renewed buying activity in the last two weeks of September. | |
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We should talk through the numbers |
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 There are a lot of numbers to calculate, understand and discuss if you are considering selling your home -- especially if it will involve then purchasing a new home....
Many of these questions are interrelated, some require talking to a loan officer, and all of them are questions that should be discussed and considered before we put your house on the market. I want you to have a clear view of the big picture financial transition you will be making if you decide to sell your current home and buy a new one. This conversation can happen at my office, at your home, or at a coffee shop of your choosing. You don't need to have come to the conclusion that you will definitely be selling in order for us to have these conversations -- let's start chatting to help you determine whether a move now makes sense, given all of the pertinent numbers and details. | |
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Nice look at layout of Hotel Madison, Madison Hall, Mason Street Parking Lot |
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 click here to view a larger version This (above) is a nice view of the intended building layout in the quadrant bounded by Main Street, Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, Mason Street and Grace Street. The Mason Street Parking Deck is currently in the early (very early) stages of construction. Madison Hall exists, but will be renovated. Hotel Madison is yet to be started. | |
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Showings Slow Despite Strong Sales |
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 Sales are up 8% this year -- but showings have been down (year-over-year) for the past four months. Any number of theories could (partially) explain this....
Other theories? | |
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Walk Through This Home, 787 Confederacy Drive |
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 Take a few minutes to walk through this exquisite, custom built home overlooking the fifth hole of Lakeview Golf Course offers upscale finishes, privacy and convenience. Enjoy one level living and an open floor plan with vaulted, tray and cathedral ceilings. The flooring throughout most of the home is a custom-cut hardwood, and the kitchen features granite countertops, a sizable pantry and upgraded appliances. The bathrooms, crafted by an Italian artisan, are finished in granite mosaic and Italian marble terrazzo. The master bathroom features a whirlpool tub, walk-in shower and his-and-her closets. This professional landscaped lot offers a park like setting with a gazebo, storage shed, and of course, the ambiance of being right on the golf course. Click here to walk through this home, on your computer, phone or tablet. Or, visit this home's property website. Or, view high resolution photos of this home by clicking the collage below....  | |
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The under $200K market is the healthiest |
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 "Months of Housing Supply" is determined by dividing the number of buyers buying (on average over the past 12 months) into the number of sellers selling (number of current listings). This graph (above) does so for each of four different price ranges in our local market. Here's what we find.... Under $200K
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August Home Sales Hit 8 Year High per September 2015 Harrisonburg Housing Market Report |
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 Learn more about this month's Featured Property: 787 Confederacy Drive I just published my monthly report on the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County real estate market. Jump to the full online market report, or download the PDF, or read on for highlights....  Good news -- after a a slightly slow July 2015 (16% fewer home sales as compared to July 2014) we saw the market pick back up again in August 2015 -- showing a 13% improvement over August 2014. This has contributed to the 8% year-to-date improvement in the pace of sales in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. As noted above, the median sales price has also increased by 7% thus far in 2015 -- and the average sales price is up 5% as compared to this time last year.  As noted in the headline, August home sales (all 120 of them) marked an eight year high for August home sales in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. This was after a slightly slower July. Looking at the entire summer, here's what we find....
Most housing market analysts consider six months of inventory (active listings) to be an indicator of a balanced market (between buyers and sellers). The "BUYERS" trend line above is illustrating how many buyers are buying in a six month period. The "SELLERS" trend line above is illustrating how many sellers are in the market (active listings) at any given time. As you can see, our market has been seeing a steady increase in buyers in the market and a decline in sellers in the market -- and we are almost to a balanced market.
And, as shown above, inventory levels keep marching downward. It's typical for this time of year, but not the most exciting news for home buyers who are selecting from a smaller and smaller pool of prospective properties. OK, that's it for now. I'll hit some high points here on HarrisonburgHousingToday.com in coming days. In the meantime, you can read the full September 2015 Harrisonburg Housing Market Report online or by downloading the PDF. And as is always my encouragement -- if you will be buying or selling a home in the near future, become a student of the housing market! Learn what has been happening recently, what is happening now, and what is likely to happen next. Being informed will allow you to make better real estate decisions.If you are ready to buy or sell a property in Harrisonburg or Rockingham County, contact me at 540-578-0102 or scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com to get the process started. | |
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Invest $32K and make $7K back per year? |
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 As shown per the above analysis, found on HarrisonbugInvestmentProperties.com, the purchaser of a condo at Campus View could potentially invest $32K (20% of the purchase price as a down payment) and be making $7K(+) per year in positive cash flow before taxes. Not bad, not bad, not bad at all! Despite the abundance of caveats (some listed below) this is a great investment opportunity to explore depending upon your tolerance for risk....
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Last call for a new townhouse at The Townes at Bluestone in 2015 |
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 If you were hoping to buy a new townhouse at The Townes at Bluestone in 2015, you only have one more opportunity to do so. These townhouses are selling fast, and there is only one remaining townhouse available that could be completed this year. There are plenty more in future sections of the community, but the next building will not be complete until Spring 2016 (+/-). Feel free to walk through the model home, online, in 3D here. | |
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Buyers have fewer, and fewer, and fewer choices. |
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 Despite my reminder that while summer is over, it is still not too late to get your house on the market, we continue to see inventory levels declining. This is typical -- not unusual at all -- but certainly frustrating for some Fall buyers who would love to have more homes to choose from not fewer. Inventory levels are likely to continue to decline through the end of the year, and are not likely to see a measurable increase from their low Winter levels until we get to March or April. | |
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Not finding success in selling your home? Focus on what you have control over. |
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 If you are having difficulty finding a buyer for your home, and you are receiving critical feedback regarding your home's location, neighborhood, floor plan or size, then I would encourage you to focus on what you have control over. You are unlikely to change your home's location, neighborhood, floor plan or size -- at least not in a cost effective manner. Thus, you can either wait (and wait, and wait) for the buyer who will purchase your home despite those factors -- or you can focus on the three main areas that you have the most control over as a home owner.... PRICE If your home is listed for $350K and buyers don't like the neighborhood, location, floor plan, etc., -- they very well might like those features more (or be willing to look past them) if your home were listed for $340K, $330K or $320K. We pick our competition based on your list price -- and maybe we've entered ourselves into too high of a weight class. If we adjust the pricing, we'll have new competitors, with whom we'll hopefully be able to better compete -- and buyers may then be willing to look past their prior objections given the new value proposition. CONDITION Are there areas of your home that could be freshened up to show your house in a more positive light to buyers -- or to not overwhelm them as much with the updates they will need to make? Perhaps some fresh paint, fresh mulch, landscaping tune-up, new light fixtures, replacement carpet in a few rooms, etc.? MARKETING Are we reaching every possible buyer in every possible way? Is your home being marketed as fully as possible both online and offline? Where do the potential buyers of your home live now? How can you reach them? Are they in town buyers? Out of town buyers? What aspects of your home will appeal most to them? Some home sellers (or would-be sellers, as it were) dwell on what they cannot change -- location, layout, neighborhood, etc. Let's chat about the three areas identified above that you do have some control over, and make sure you are positioned well for the Fall market. | |
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Scott Rogers
Funkhouser Real
Estate Group
540-578-0102
scott@funkhousergroup.com
Licensed in the
Commonwealth of Virginia
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