• Opened in 1987 as Coors Brewing
• 450 employees (as of 2015)
• Brew up to 8 million barrels of beer a year (as of 2015)
• Beers brewed: Coors Light, Blue Moon Belgian White, Killian's Irish Red, Keystone, Keystone Light
• A $300 million build-out in 2007 made this one of the most modern large-scale breweries in North America

1. They are done negotiating on price and want it to be very clear that they are not going to negotiate further on price based on whatever you might discover during your home inspection.
    
   
2. The house is old, and the seller doesn't want to deal with repairs requests that are mainly related to the fact that the house is old.
    
   
3. The house is unfamiliar to the seller, perhaps because it has been a rental property, and thus the seller hasn't been making small needed maintenance upgrades over time that only an owner occupant would now about --- and thus the seller doesn't want you to nitpick over those details through the inspection process.

• 8% of home sales were under $100K
• 57% were under $200K
• 84% were under $300K
• 94% were under $400K

Clearly, that also means that only 6% of our local market is comprised of home sales over $400K.

The park features six trails along four levels of difficulties. Five are open for use and the sixth should be finished by the end of August, said Kenny Hess, Massanutten's director of sports and risk management.

Of the five trails open, two are for beginners, one is intermediate and two are for advanced riders. The last trail will be for experts only.

Thomas Jenkins, a member of the Shenandoah Valley Bike Coalition, has been working with the resort on its trails on the western slope of Massanutten. He said the bike park joins Bryce Resort in Basye as the only courses with a lift system in the Valley.

Enjoy privacy, views and direct access to Lake Shenandoah from this well maintained Lake Pointe home with a full lower level apartment! This home offers spacious one-level living with a living room with fireplace, an eat-in kitchen, formal dining room, office, master suite, two additional bedrooms and a full bath plus an rec room (with laundry room) all on the main level. The lower level features an expansive family room with full bathroom, plenty of unfinished storage space PLUS a complete one bedroom apartment with living room, kitchen, dining area, bedroom, bathroom and clothes washer/dryer! Don't miss the immaculate, oversized garage, and the large custom-built deck looking out to the 1+ acre yard, Lake Shenandoah and Massanutten peak!

• Is it priced appropriately for the market?
• Are you addressing concerns about the condition of the house being brought forward by potential buyers?
• Is it being marketed as thoroughly and professionally as possible?

Of course, plenty of homes (46%) go under contract after they have been on the market for 60 days -- so that is not necessarily the time to panic -- but it is a good time to pause and take inventory of where things are, making sure that you feel confident in your strategy for moving forward towards a successful sale.

For even more analysis of our local housing market, check out....

For even more analysis of our local housing market, check out....

• It is a seller's market under $200K, with only 4 months of supply available.
   
• The $200K - $300K market is balanced between buyers and sellers.
   
• Buyers still have a slight edge in the $300K - $400K market.
   
• The $400K+ market is a buyer's market --- with one big caveat -- we almost always see lots of supply in this price range, and some sellers don't really "have to" sell, so it may be the case that a nine month supply (for example) is a balanced market in this price range.

For even more analysis of our local housing market, check out....

1. Home sales were up 1.85% in July as compared to last year.
    
2. Year-to-date home sales continue to be quite strong, showing a 12.28% improvement over last year with 713 sales thus far in 2016.
    
3. The year-to-date median sales price has risen 1.86% over the past year -- from $188,500 up to $192,000.
    
4. Homes are selling 11.86% faster thus far in 2016 as compared to during the same timeframe last year.

July could be seen as a disappointment in some ways.  We didn't see sky high home sales, towering over all previous months of July.  We only saw a tiny 1.85% increase in sales as compared to July 2015.  But wait -- before we become too glum about the 110 home sales in July, let's not forget the record breaking months of sales that we saw in May and June!

Just for fun, let's look at May through July home sales for the past few years....

• May - July 2013 = 322 home sales
• May - July 2014 = 343 home sales
• May - July 2015 = 352 home sales
• May - July 2016 = 392 home sales !!!!

So, yes, I think we can be satisfied with the 110 home sales we saw in July 2016 given the slightly larger context.

The graph above is somewhat complicated, but very important as to an understanding of our local housing market.  The green "SELLERS" trajectory is showing the number of homeowners trying to sell their homes.  The blue "BUYERS" trajectory shows the number of buyers closing on the purchase of homes in a six month period.  This graph, therefor, is a good indication of overall market balance in our local housing market, as many housing market analysts consider a six month supply of homes for sale to be a sign of a market that is balanced between buyers and sellers.

As shown above, after many years, we finally saw these trajectories cross last month.  That is to say that there are now more buyers buying in a six month period than there are sellers selling.  As such, if we've been approaching a balanced market for the past year, it is now definitely "in balance" -- even if that varies some from price range to price range.

Taking a look at buyer activity in the form of signed contracts, we see that July was another relatively strong month with 119 contracts signed -- as compared to 118 last July.  Put in a slightly larger context, we have seen an average of 136 contracts per month over the past five months -- as compared to an average of only 117 contracts per month during the same timeframe in 2015.

One of the ways that we have achieved the market balance illustrated above is by a reduction in the number of homes for sale.  As the graph above indicates, we have seen a 15% decline in inventory levels over the past year.  Thus, buyers a year ago had 644 homes to choose from -- and today can only choose from 549 properties.

OK, let's cut off my ramblings about our local market there for now.  There is a lot more more in my full real estate market report, but I'll let you explore that and read further on your own if you so choose.  I'll continue to delve into the latest trends on HarrisonburgHousingToday.com over the next few days, but if you just can't wait, feel free to read the entire report 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.

Here are two handy references to prepare yourself to buy or sell....

• BuyingAHomeInHarrisonburg.com


• SellingAHomeInHarrisonburg.com

• A seller would almost never accept a contract with a home sale contingency without a kickout clause to allow them to move on to a different buyer that didn't have a home sale contingency.
   
  
• There are only 8 properties in the MLS that are under contract with kickout clauses.

I must say, I was quite surprised to find this to be the case --- I thought perhaps 10% - 20% of contracts might have kickout clauses (and thus home sale contingencies) because plenty of buyers have to sell before buying.

It would seem that most buyers are likely waiting to make offers until they have their own properties under contract (thus eliminating the need for the kickout clause) AND/OR most sellers are not accepting offers with home sale contingencies unless the buyers' houses are already under contract (thus eliminating the need for the kickout clause).

If you are a buyer, I would certainly suggest the strategy outlined above (and the only one that is apparently working with sellers right now) --- get a contract on your house and THEN make an offer on the property you would like to purchase!