| Newer Post | home | Older Post |
 |
 |
Prices of Single Family Home Sales Relatively Close to Harrisonburg |
|
 Here is a break down of a year's single family home sales by price range:
A reader asked the following in response to my analysis earlier this week of all home sales in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County... "These stats don't seem to portray the same market in which I hunted unsuccessfully for months in the 200-300k range and, ultimately, felt pushed to purchase far beyond my comfort zone amid intense competition. How does the picture change if you include only detached single family properties? (i.e., are the numerous sales of sub-100k student townhome units skewing things?) I'm just trying to understand why my experience seems to have differed so greatly from the market reality." This is an excellent point. When we look at a large amount of data (all sales in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County) the large number of home sales in a particular price range can obscure some market realities that are hiding just below the surface. In the case of the buyer commenting above, the reason that she found very few options in the $200K - $300K price range relates to property type, location, size, age and features. Property Type - Indeed, the original analysis includes all property types, including townhouses and condos. Under $100K, this includes many student rentals. Between $100K and $200K, this includes many townhouses, some of which are rental properties. Between $200K and $300K this also includes quite a few townhouses. In the new analysis (above) I have only included single family detached homes. Location - Rockingham County is a large county. It's actually the third largest county in Virginia, behind Pittsylvania and Augusta. Many buyers looking to be close-ish to Harrisonburg aren't going to be looking at homes in Broadway, Elkton or Massanutten, based simply on location. In the new analysis (above) I have only included areas close-ish to Harrisonburg, as shown below.  Size - It's easy to look at the data above and wonder how there could really be 182 homes that sold between $200K and $300K, in the geographic area bounded above, and to not (as a buyer) have thought any or many were good options. A whole lot of this has to do with the size of the home -- many buyers need more than X bedrooms, or more than X square feet. When we start putting some lower bounds on the space needed in a house, we quickly narrow down the number of viable homes. Age - The age of a home doesn't narrow things down quite as quickly as the size of a home, but it makes an impact. Many buyers are going to be significantly less excited about buying a 60 or 80 or 100 year old home as compared to buying a home that has been built in the past 10 to 20 years. Features - Then, when we start adding on needs (garage, basement) or wants (open floor plan, level lot), we narrow it all the way down to a relatively small number of homes that often match exactly what a buyer is hoping to buy. So -- when you look at the large number of homes selling in a given price range, don't think that all of those homes will be homes that will be viable options for you and your family. Once we add some of your additional (reasonable) criteria, the options will start constricting, often rather quickly. Recent Articles:
| |
 |
 |
| Newer Post | home | Older Post |
Scott Rogers
Funkhouser Real
Estate Group
540-578-0102
scott@funkhousergroup.com
Licensed in the
Commonwealth of Virginia
Home Search
Housing Market Report
Harrisonburg Townhouses
Walk Through This Home
Investment Properties
Harrisonburg Foreclosures
Property Transfers
New Listings
