Newer Posts | Older Posts |
Predictably, twice as many buyers are choosing the County (over the City) in 2016 |
|
The first quarter of 2016 has been a (crazily) busy few months of contract activity -- especially in March. As shown above, twice as many buyers are contracting on homes in Rockingham County (192) as compared to the City of Harrisonburg (93). But, it turns out that shouldn't surprise us, based on the typical pace of buyer activity in the City and County.... As shown above, last year there were just about twice as many home sales in Rockingham County (746) as there were in the City of Harrisonburg (379). But before you conclude that County home sellers have it soooo easy, because twice as many buyers are buying in the County, I should point out that there are actually MORE THAN twice as many homes for sale in Rockingham County (411) as compared to the City of Harrisonburg (151).... As such, there are actually more buyers per seller in the City than in the County. | |
Most March Contracts Ever? |
|
Buyers are busy buying, in most price ranges.... |
|
Home sales are on the rise -- on almost every price range:
So, what is happening with the $300K - $400K home sales? As shown above, they are down 18% year-over-year, though they are up 25% compared to where they were two years ago. Maybe it was a temporary boom of these buyers over the past year?? Theories welcome! | |
Home Sales, Median Prices on the Rise in 2016 Q1 |
|
Learn more about this month's Featured Property: 3095 Baybrook Drive I just published my monthly report on the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County real estate market. Jump to the full online market report, watch the overview video below, or download the PDF, or read on for highlights.... First, a video overview.... Next, let's take a look at the overall market performance in March.... Some rather good news, in all areas, as far as improvements in our local market....
OK -- now with that formality aside, let's talk about the crazy, wild, unbelievable stat of the month.... Yes, you are reading that correctly....
So, buyers were actively signing contracts in March 2016, it seems. :) As shown above, the 83 home sales in March 2016 were the highest of any recent March. The question now remains -- how many home sales will we see in April? Could the 133 contracts from March help boost the market up to more than 104 sales in April? One last trend that I am watching closely -- the single family home market. As shown above, we have seen a relatively steady number of single family home sales over the past few years -- which is neither thrilling nor depressing. The median sales price, on the other hand, has been steadily climbing -- great news for anyone who owns a home, or likes to see an improving housing market. In Summary.... | |
Learn about upcoming foreclosure sales at HarrisonburgForeclosures.com |
|
Some investors consider the purchase of properties being sold via foreclosure at the courthouse steps. You can find a listing of upcoming foreclosure sales by visiting.... HarrisonburgForeclosures.com | |
Rockingham County Proposes 2 Cent Increase in Real Estate Tax Rate |
|
Rockingham County's proposed budget for the 2017 fiscal year (July 1, 2016 - June 30, 2017) includes a 2 cent increase in the real estate tax rate -- from $0.68 to $0.70 per $100 of assessed value. This would bring it closer to Harrisonburg's $0.72 tax rate, but not all the way up there. If you want to give your figurative two cents to the County about their proposal for using your actual two cents (per $100 of assessed value) then show up at the public hearing on April 13th at 7PM at East Rockingham High School. Read more via Monday's Daily News Record article.... County Proposes Tax Hike | |
157 New Residential Lots at Crossroads Farm? |
|
Per documents tucked away in the Rockingham County Planning Commission's packet for their meeting today, it looks like Crossroads Farm will be expanding. The areas outlined in red above are the areas that seem to be the new lots to be platted in this large subdivision just East of the City of Harrisonburg. These new areas appear to include the following new lots....
| |
New Student Housing Community Proposed in Rockingham County |
|
A new student housing community may be built in Rockingham County depending on (among other things) the outcome of the public hearing of the rezoning of the land that will take place tomorrow, April 5th. Below is an illustration of where the community would be located -- just off Reservoir Street, just past the City/County line when headed towards the hospital. This location is in the vicinity of several other student housing communities, so it is not a surprising location to be proposed for this community. Per documents submitted to the County, we know the following about this potential student housing community....
You can view lots of details about this proposal by downloading the full packet of information from the rezoning request which includes the master plan and illustrations of the front elevations of some of the potential dwellings to be built. Download it here. | |
Showings on the rise in March 2016 |
|
Showing activity is on the rise in March 2016 -- with 8% more showings than last March. This is after a slower December/January as compared to the same time a year ago. I anticipate that this will be a busy Spring season for our local real estate market. | |
Merck announces major improvements of Elkton facility |
|
Per today's Daily News Record, Merck has announced a $168 million investment in its Elkton facility for upgrades that will take place over the next few years.... "The Kenilworth, N.J.-based pharmaceutical business has been operating in the Valley since 1941, according to the release, and the Elkton plant works to produce a variety of vaccines in bulk. The improvements will upgrade that system.Read the entire article here: Merck Plans $168M Upgrade Looking back through the Daily News Record archives, the most recent major improvement I can find record of is a $57M announcement in 2006, followed by a $193M announcement in 2007. Read the 2007 article here: Merck Adding 70 New Jobs Merck is one of the largest employers in Rockingham County, so this is a welcome news announcement! | |
New Loft Floor Plans at The Townes at Bluestone |
|
The Townes at Bluestone will soon feature a new floor plan -- with construction starting in the next few weeks. Previously, the floor plans at The Townes at Bluestone included:
These new "loft" floor plans will feature two large master suites on the bedroom level, plus a third level loft that could be a third bedroom (with optional bathroom), or a play room, or exercise room, or office, or so much more. Explore the pricing and floor plans for these new townhouses here. | |
Walk through 3200 Berryfield Drive (Rockingham) |
|
Take a few minutes walk through this spacious and exceptionally well-maintained Barrington home with upscale features such as 10 foot ceilings, hardwood floors, ceramic tile, tray ceilings, crown moulding, ceiling fans, cherry cabinets and granite countertops offers a large living room with gas fireplace, an eat-in kitchen, formal dining room, master suite, and three additional bedrooms and a full bathroom on the main level. The fourth main level bedroom would also work well as a sitting room or home office. The basement features a large family room (and more), a guest bedroom and full bathroom, plus plenty of unfinished space for storage or expansion. Don't miss the screened porch and back deck - plus a large patio off of the lower level. Click here to walk through this home, on your computer, phone or tablet. Or, visit this home's property website. Or, view high resolution photos of this home by clicking the collage below.... Find out more about this 3D Walk Through technology at WalkThroughThisHome.com.... | |
Mortgage Interest Rates Fall (Slightly) Again |
|
Money continues to be cheap. Mortgage money, that is. The average mortgage interest rate fell again (slightly) to 3.71%, after having risen for a few weeks. This is a good bit below the 12 month average of 3.853%. And, notably, interest rates continue to be below 4%, as they have been for most of the past year. This is still a great time to lock in your long-term housing costs! | |
Support youth biking AND (possibly) win a very cool bike for yourself |
|
Do you think kids should be active, playing outside, riding bikes (among other things)? I do. As such, I am supporting the ShenRock Mountain Bike team by purchasing a raffle ticket to win the bike pictured above. The details.... The ShenRock Mountain Bike Team is an interscholastic youth mountain bike team in the Shenandoah Valley consisting of boys and girls from local public, private, and home schools that participates in friendly and competitive mountain bike events against other surrounding teams.... The raffle is being run by Bluestone Bike & Run -- a local bike shop and running store. Check out the raffle here. | |
Archive of Harrisonburg Housing Market Reports |
|
You can now access market reports back to 2013 by visiting HarrisonburgHousingMarket.com. Whether you are looking for the most recent report, or if you are interested to see how things were looking a few years ago, you are welcome to explore them all. Also of note, the best ideas for additions to my monthly market reports come from YOU! If you have further questions about our local housing market that are not covered by my monthly market reports, let me know! | |
Homes with basements in and around Harrisonburg are (at least somewhat) likely to have radon |
|
As you can see above, Rockingham County is in Zone 1 -- which means we are in an area that is likely to have high radon levels. What is radon, and what does it mean for you? Read on, from the EPA.... Radon is a radioactive gas that comes from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water and gets into the air you breathe. Radon typically moves up through the ground to the air above and into your home through cracks and other holes in the foundation. Radon can also enter your home through well water. Your home can trap radon inside.Learn more about radon and real estate here. If you are buying a home with a basement, I would recommend that you consider a radon test as a part of your home inspection process. | |
High End Home Sales Snap Back (Big Time) in 2015 |
|
After quite a few years of somewhat slower home sales over $500K, the pace of these higher end home sales jumped up in 2015 to 29 home sales -- the highest pace seen since 2008. If we raise the bar a bit, and look at home sales over $600K, we see that this slightly narrower market is looking quite strong -- a jump up to 19 home sales over $600K in 2015. This is the highest level seen since 2006. And finally, wow, the most dramatic change is in the $700K+ price range. There were 11 homes sales over $700K in 2015 -- which is more than were seen in the sum of the four years -- and is the highest number of $700K+ home sales ever seen in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Stay tuned to see how these market segments perform in 2016. Explore homes for sale over $500K by visiting HarrisonburgLuxuryHomes.com. | |
Massanutten Resort announces Bike Park to open in 2016 |
|
Big news for off road biking enthusiasts! Development and construction of a new bike park are underway, with a mid-summer opening date. And....wait for it....it will be served by a bike lift. Ride the lift to the top, with your bike, and race on back down! Read more.... BREAKING: Massanutten Announces Virginia Bike Park (North America's Mountain Bike Resort Website) Massanutten Bike Park (Massanutten Resort) | |
If you bought in X then your house is likely now worth Y |
|
The chart above is calculated based on comparing the 2015 median sales price to the median sales price in each of the prior 15 years. Several key points to take away from this chart....
| |
Preparing for actually making an offer on a house |
|
How, you might ask, do we go about getting from the point of wanting to make an offer --- to actually making the offer? Here's a brief overview....
When we get to step seven, above, we will be discussing and deciding on the terms of the offer. Below is a list of the main contract terms we will need to discuss in preparing to make an offer.
Before and after making an offer, there is a lot more to know about and think about regarding the home purchasing process. Read more at.... | |
Newer Posts | Older Posts |
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