Harrisonburg Area Home Sales Up 10%, Prices Up 11% Thus Far In 2020


Harrisonburg Area Home Sales Up 10%, Prices Up 11% Thus Far In 2020
By Scott Rogers • December 15, 2020
Happy Tuesday, friends! They say it might snow tomorrow. I'm currently seeing predictions of 6 to 9 inches. What is your best guess? We haven't had a sizable snowstorm in the Harrisonburg area in several years - maybe it's finally showing up? Or maybe it will just be rain - you know - 2020 and all... ;-) But enough about whether the snow will be piling up tomorrow -- home sales have been piling up BIG TIME this year and the last few months have been surprisingly busier than you'd expect at this time of year! Read on for details, or download a PDF of my full market report here. But first, not to be overlooked, the home shown above is the last home to be built at Heritage Estates. If you know someone who wants to live in this active adult community in Harrisonburg, this will be the last opportunity for a new home in the neighborhood. OK, now, an overview of the basics... Check out the crazy numbers above... Home sales were 52% higher this November than last -- rocketing up from 93 home sales up to 141 home sales! The year-to-date pace of home sales has increase 10.47% this year over last. Despite COVID, we've seen 1,351 home sales in the first 11 months of this year compared to only 1,223 home sales last year. The median sales price has also been rising quickly, to the tune of a 10.91% YTD increase. Last year we were looking at a $220,000 median sales price and this year that figure has risen to $244,000! Homes are taking half as long to sell this year as they did last year. The median "days on market" was 18 days during the first 11 months of last year -- but only 9 days during that timeframe this year! So, did I mention the fall home sale season has been a bit atypical? Yes, as you can see by the red line above, fall 2020 has been crazy! Usually, home sales fall during the fall. They gently decline into the slower winter season. This year, not so much. Home sales shot up in September and have stayed at unpredictably high levels through the end of November! And when you pile all of those strong months of sales on top of each other... As you can see above, the number of home sales we've seen (1,351) in the first 11 months of this year is more than we have seen in any of the past three years... during the entire year! So, once we pile December on top, we're likely to be looking at well over 1,400 home sales this year -- and maybe as many as 1,450? But we didn't get to these high levels of home sales without some dips... The orange line above shows the number of home sales in a 12 month period -- each month for the past year+ and it reveals the roller coaster that we've been on for the past year. Just before COVID started impacting our lives, the annual pace of home sales was starting to sneak up above its previous normal trendline. But then, COVID, and the annual pace of home sales dipped down quite a bit and it was uncertain where we'd go next. But by the time we got to August it was evident that the home sales market was roaring back and it is now well above where we might have expected it to be a year ago! And all that interest in buying homes has caused prices to rise... Over the past five years we have seen the median sales price of detached homes rise anywhere from 2% to 7% per year and average out at about 5% per year. But this year -- how does 10% sound? I suppose it sounds good if you are a seller and it sounds pretty rotten if you are a buyer who has not yet found a home to buy! A year ago the median sales price of detached homes (not townhouses, duplexes or condos) was $240,000. Today... $265,000! Looking forward -- will we keep seeing lots of home sales? It seems likely. During the past three months 377 buyers (and sellers) have signed contracts to buy (and sell) homes. Looking back a year ago to the same three months we only see 297 contracts signed. Thus, we should probably expect a relatively high number of closed home sales in December and January. Maybe things won't slow down as much as usual this winter. Hard to believe! And as 2020 goes, houses are getting about as hard to find as toilet paper... Indeed, there have been fewer and fewer homes for sale at any given time this year as compared to last. Rampant buyer activity has caused many (most?) new listings to be snatched up as quickly as they have been listed for sale. This has driven inventory levels lower than I thought we'd ever see. A bit under a year ago we dropped below 200 homes for sale which was a shocker... but now, fewer than 150 homes for sale!? It's tough to be a buyer right now in many locations and price ranges! But if you do find a house to buy... you'll love those low interest rates... Mortgage interest rates have been steadily declining for the past 18+ months now, and are solidly below 3%! It's hard to believe, but most buyers are locking in interest rates at 2 point something -- fixed for 30 years! These lower rates have allowed mortgage payments to stay relatively steady over the past year despite increases in home prices. OK, folks, that's all for now. I have to go see if I can find my snow shovel just in case it really does snow tomorrow. I hope you have a wonderful remainder of the 2020, and I look forward to connecting with you again in 2021! Reach out anytime by calling/texting me at 540-578-0102 or by dropping me an email at 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? 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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).
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