Harrisonburg Area Housing Market Still Strong Through End Of March 2020


Harrisonburg Area Housing Market Still Strong Through End Of March 2020
By Scott Rogers • April 15, 2020
I'm working from home today, as is the norm for many of us these days. I hope that you and your family are in good health and good spirits as we travel through these unprecedented times. Before we get going, here are two articles I wrote a few weeks ago that are still quite applicable given the current scenario with COVID-19... Should I List My House For Sale Now? Should I Buy A Home Now? What follows is an update on our local (Harrisonburg and Rockingham County) real estate market as measured by home sales data through the end of March 2020. Overall, you'll see that almost all indicators are still quite positive in our local market. If we are going to see an impact of COVID-19 on our local housing market, we might first see signs of that another month or two from now. Before we dive in, take a few minutes to learn more about this month's featured home - an upscale home in the Blue Stone Hills area - by visiting 2221PearlLane.com. Also, for those that like to cut to the chase, here's a PDF of my entire market report. Now, onto some data, and what we might conclude that it means... As shown above... Home sales were quite strong in March 2020 -- with 105 closed sales, which was a 15% increase over last March. The first quarter of home sales also was quite a bit stronger than last year's first quarter. We saw 267 home sales in the first quarter of 2020 which is a 20% increase over the first quarter of 2019. The median sales price in the first quarter of 2020 was $225,000 which is nearly 5% higher than a year prior. When looking at a full year of data, the median sales price is even higher -- $227,000 -- which is 6% higher than just one year ago. Homes sold quite a bit faster in the first quarter of 2020 than in the first quarter of 2019. The median "days on market" was only 21 days in 2020-Q1 as compared to 39 days in 2019-Q1. So, we have been seeing a relatively strong and robust market through the end of March! It gets even more interesting when examined visually... This year has certainly been quite a yo-yo when it comes to sales per month. We saw a record breaking number of sales in January (higher than the prior three months of January) and then a depressingly low number of sales in February (lower than the prior three months of February) and then things bounced right back up again in March to the highest month of March sales seen in the last few years. I suppose it's not totally unreasonable to think we could see another yo-yo move in April if home sales dip back down somewhat due to COVID-19. Read on a bit more for data on contract activity in March. Looking at the data visually, again, you'll note that we saw the strongest first quarter of home sales in quite a few years in 2020. If this trend continues we would likely see 1,350+ home sales this year. Looking now at contract data (above) you'll note that there were only 116 contracts signed in March 2020 - which is a drop off from the 132 contracts signed last March. However, when looking at the entire first quarter (Jan-Mar) this year's buyers have been a group of 320, while only 308 buyers showed up last year during the same timeframe. Last year, April was the strongest month of buyer activity -- as measured by when buyers are signing contracts -- and it will be interesting to see if that proves to be true this year. Changes in housing inventory (the number of homes on the market for sale) were somewhat predictable over the past month. We usually see inventory levels starting to climb in March (we did this year) but we also saw an overall year-over-year decline in inventory levels, as we have been seeing for the past few years. This will be another good indicator to watch in the coming months to see how the number of homes on the market is affected by COVID-19. If you're buying a home right now -- or refinancing your mortgage -- you are likely quite pleased with some super-low interest rates. The current average rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage (on a purchase, not a re-fi) is 3.5%. This creates an extraordinary opportunity for today's buyers to lock in their housing costs at a low level as it relates to the interest they are paying on their mortgage. Any changes to this chart above will be telling in the coming months. We only have unemployment data through February right now, and at that point, things were looking great! This could change quite a bit moving forward. That is all of the graphs I'll throw at you today. In conclusion, through the end of March, our local housing market was continuing to move right along at a steady clip. Plenty of sellers are still listing their homes for sale. Plenty of buyers are still contracting to buy homes. Here are a few other articles that I have written over the past few weeks that explore some of the nuances of our market... Yes, Houses Are Still Being Listed For Sale 2020 Home Buying Activity Might Be Starting To Slow Slightly But Still Ahead of 2018, 2019 As we continue through this unprecedented time, I'll continue to monitor where we are and contemplate where we might be headed, and I'll share them with you in my monthly market reports. Until next month, I hope you and your family remain healthy, and if you have questions about how current market dynamics might impact your plans for potentially buying or selling a home this year, feel free to reach out by sending me an email - scott@hhtdy.com. 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 22, 2024 (unless otherwise noted).
Comments (0) or Subscribe