City officials began reviewing the regulations on backyard hens after council members were approached about the matter last fall. Tuesday's vote eliminated a minimum 2-acre lot-size requirement enacted in 2009.

The requirement effectively maintained a ban on backyard fowl, as most lots in the city are smaller than 2 acres.

The new rules, which must be approved again before they take effect, will allow residents of single-family homes to keep chickens. No one living in an apartment, townhouse or manufactured home park will be allowed to keep birds.

Chicken owners are limited to four hens in an enclosed pen, which must sit in the backyard and be at least five feet from property lines and at least 20 feet from any stormwater management installation.

• Your cost savings will potentially be even greater than outlined above based on your tax savings you will see each year because of having paid mortgage interest.
  
  
• The analysis above does not factor in your closing costs when buying.
  

• Stoneport - a mixed use development featuring Bojangles, Wendy's and Wal-Mart
   
  
• a proposed 37 acre student housing community on Reservoir Street
   
• The proposed rezoning of 238 acres by Sentara RMH per their new proposed master plan.
   
• An affordable housing complex being developed off Reservoir Street across from Fieldale Place.

After the workshop (11:30 AM) the Board of Supervisors will hold their regular meeting at 3:00 PM today.

From today's Daily News Record article....

County Administrator Joe Paxton said supervisors are concerned because the growth of JMU and the need for housing are uncertain.

Supervisors want to decide what type of development should go in the area to best spur growth, Paxton said.

"The type of housing that you allow to develop in that area will drive the type of commercial that you get," Paxton said. "So, there needs to be some intentional thought ... in deciding what type of residential development will go in that area."

Deputy County Administrator Stephen King said the workshop will "give an overall look of what is there, what we know is coming, what we've been told is coming," and allow the board to start developing a plan for the area.

Certain types of housing can attract certain people to an area, Paxton said, and the demographics will determine which businesses want to move to the area.

"The income levels are critical to attract different types of commercial development," Paxton said. "If you don't have some kind of plan, then you will just get what happens."

• April 2016 home sales (100) showed a 7.53% improvement over April 2015.
   
  
• Year-to-date home sales (320) showed a 13.48% improvement over 2015.
   
• The Year-to-date median sales price has increased 3.96% to $190,500.
   
• The time it takes to sell a home (median days on market) has declined by 9.88% over the past year to 73 days.

Let's dig into a few details....

Wow! This graph shows very clearly (look at the last two bars on the right) how HOT of a Spring real estate market we are experiencing this year. The pace of contracts in March was a new record for March -- and in April, buyers have done it again. As far back as I have on record (2007) there has never been a month of April when this many (158) contracts have been signed in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

Single family homes are often the best indicator of overall trends in a local housing market.  As shown above, sales of single family homes are quite stable -- and the median price has been on the rise for several years now.  It seems likely that we will see another increase in the median sales price of single family homes in 2016.

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. Over the past four years we have been seeing a steady increase in buyers in the market and a decline in sellers in the market.

In Summary....

BUYERS -- The record number of contracts (March and April) indicates that you have competition when it comes to great houses that are well prepared and well priced.  Get your ducks in a row -- talk to a lender, start researching the market -- so that you are ready to make an offer quickly when the house of your dreams comes on the market.

SELLERS -- Just because many homes are selling quickly doesn't mean ALL homes are selling quickly.  Take the time to understand YOUR segment of the market -- as it pertains to property type, price range, location, etc.  Know what to expect of buyers in your corner of the market, and prepare your home (price, condition, marketing) to be well received by those buyers.

More and Much, Much More....

There is more, oh so much more, in my full real estate market report.  I have even made it very easily accessible for you to read online....



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.

Finally, here are two handy references to prepare yourself to buy or sell....

• BuyingAHomeInHarrisonburg.com


• SellingAHomeInHarrisonburg.com

• Values increased very quickly between 2003 and 2006.
• Values increased a bit more slowly between 2006 and 2008.
• Values declined between 2008 and 2012.
• Values have increased since 2012.

So, in the past 15 years, there have been some intense increases, some depressing decreases, and some recent recovery.

The yellow line is the general trendline over time, which shows that overall, values have trended positively over the past 15 years.

So, do townhouse values generally increase over time?  Let's go with 'yes' for now -- but continue to monitor as we hopefully have a more normal next three to five years in our local real estate market.

• 2010 = 1 sale ($200K)
• 2011 = 3 sales ($189K median sales price)
  
• 2012 = 2 sales ($113K median sales price)
• 2013 = 5 sales ($135K median sales price)
  
• 2014 = 2 sales ($86K median sales price)
  
• 2015 = 5 sales ($107K median sales price)
  
• 2016 = 1 sale ($99K)

• 70 Single Family Home Lots
• 96 Duplex Lots

View a larger version of the proposed new plat here.

You can review the entire rezoning request here.

Rockingham County staff is recommending that this re-zoning request be tabled.  The Planning Commission will be reviewing this request at their meeting this evening.