Where Will Recent JMU Graduates, Staying In Harrisonburg, Buy Houses?


Where Will Recent JMU Graduates, Staying In Harrisonburg, Buy Houses?
By Scott Rogers • May 10, 2018
It's a numbers games, folks.... Some percentage of each graduating class at JMU (and EMU, and Bridgewater College) will decide they want to stay in Harrisonburg and make it their home. These three institutions seem to graduate around 6,000 students each year. How many might decide to stay in Harrisonburg? In chatting with several folks about this yesterday, I pondered aloud whether enough new "for sale" housing is being built for recent grads to buy, once they decide they want to stick around and buy a home. Or, more broadly, is our housing stock growing as fast as our population. I suspect that it is not -- based on how quickly homes are selling and how low our inventory levels remain month after month. So, what are these recent (within the past few years) JMU grads to do? Perhaps make several offers on several properties, missing out on most because of multiple offer situations, and then eventually securing a contract to buy a home. Or, perhaps they just rent because there is so little to buy. But if many or most of them do rent, it is -- at least in the short term -- a net loss for our community. If they buy a home, they will be putting down roots, committing to stay in the area, investing even further in our local economy, etc. If they are renting, not so much on any of those fronts. Not so long ago (ok -- fine -- 16 years ago) I was a recent JMU graduate -- having just finished up my master's degree -- and my wife (fiancé at the time) and I decided we wanted to stay in this area. We were able to find a townhouse to buy, and were excited to make this our home. The landscape now, at least for recent graduates buying homes, is a bit different. Receive Updates by Email Recent Articles: There Are Plenty Of Types Of Houses That Exist That Just Are Not Available To Purchase Home Sales By Price Range In The City Of Harrisonburg Are You Compromising On Aspects Of Your Next Home That You Can Or Cannot Change Later? How Much Slower Are The Winter Months In Our Local Housing Market? Rockingham County and New Home Sales Drive Surge in Area Housing Market Find The Balance Between Optimistic And Realistic Home Pricing Room Size Is Difficult To Understand Solely From Real Estate Photos How Much Would You Value Not Having To Prepare Your Home For Showings? One Out Of Four Homes Is Taking Longer Than A Month To Sell Consider The Cost Of Your Planned Renovations When Planning Your Offer
Have any questions? Contact Scott Rogers at 540-578-0102 or scott@funkhousergroup.com
Based on information from the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Association of REALTORS® or its MLS, for the period Jan 1, 2000 through Nov 21, 2024 (unless otherwise noted).
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