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Homes Sales Increasing, Except Between $300K and $400K |
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![]() The pace of home sales is increasing in every price range except $300K - $400K. There are only an average of 7.8 homes selling per month in the $300K - $400K price range, as compared to an average of 9.8 sales per month a year ago. This might seem like a small numerical change, but it amounts to a 21% decline in the pace of sales, and is in stark contrast to the increases seen in all of the other price ranges. | |
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Short Term Rentals in Downtown Harrisonburg (think AirBNB) Under Construction at Market and Mason |
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![]() That building under construction on the corner of Market and Mason (red star above) -- have you been wondering what it will be? Read more in this report from WHSV yesterday.... HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) -- A new building on corner of Mason and East Market streets near Urban Exchange will feature a restaurant, possibly a wine bar and some apartments; and those apartments won't be typical rentals. | |
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We are approaching a balance between buyers and sellers in our local market. |
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![]() Most housing market analysts consider six months of inventory (active listings) to be an indicator of a balanced market (between buyers and sellers). The "BUYERS" trend line above is illustrating how many buyers are buying in a six month period. The "SELLERS" trend line above is illustrating how many sellers are in the market (active listings) at any given time. As you can see, our market had an extreme imbalance several years ago, with more sellers in the market than were needed based on the buyers in the market. Over the past four years we have been seeing a steady increase in buyers in the market and a decline in sellers in the market. Find out more about our local market at HarrisonburgHousingMarket.com. | |
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December 2015 Harrisonburg Housing Market Report |
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![]() Learn more about this month's Featured Property: 6600 Lawyer Road I just published my monthly report on the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County real estate market. Jump to the full online market report, or download the PDF, or read on for highlights.... ![]() There is plenty to be excited about in this month's report on our local housing market....
![]() Home sales are piling up in 2015 -- as shown above, the 1,039 home sales we have seen between January and November this year is well above the number of home sales seen anytime in the previous five years. ![]() The pace at which buyers are signing contracts to buy real estate is often an excellent indicator of the future sales performance of our local market. Curiously, we are seeing fewer people signing contracts in the most recent 12 months (1,168) as compared to the previous 12 months (1,186). Since closed sales are increasing, this likely means that more contracts are making it successfully to closing. ![]() Inventory levels are both up, and down. There are actually 2% more homes on the market now as compared to a year ago -- however, inventory levels have dropped by 6% over the past six months, as is typical for this time of year. OK, that's it for now. You can read further commentary in coming days on my blog, HarrisonburgHousingToday.com, or dive right into the full market report, which you can read online or download as a PDF. And as is always my encouragement -- if you will be buying or selling a home in the near future, become a student of the housing market! Learn what has been happening recently, what is happening now, and what is likely to happen next. Being informed will allow you to make better real estate decisions. If you are ready to buy or sell a property in Harrisonburg or Rockingham County, contact me at 540-578-0102 or scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com to get the process started. | |
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30 Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rates Stay Put Between 3.75% and 4% for nearly all of 2015 |
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![]() Who would have thunk it? Seriously!?! When interest rates started rising from 3.65% in April up to 4.04% in June, it seemed that maybe, just maybe, interest rates were headed back up for good. But no -- rates then generally declined, again, between June and November. As shown above, for nearly all of 2015, interest rates have been between 3.75% and 4%. These rates are the average rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage. Opportunities to finance your home purchase with a historically low (fixed!) mortgage interest rate continue -- perhaps on into 2016! | |
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Buy your early bird tickets for the Red Wing Roots Music Festival and enjoy Great Music in the Great Outdoors |
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![]() I know, I know, it's cold, you aren't thinking about being outside listening to great music and camping overnight -- but wait -- you should be! As of this morning (10AM) early bird tickets are now on sale for the Red Wing Roots Music Festival to be held on July 8 - 10, 2016 at Natural Chimneys. It is definitely a highlight of our family's summer -- and I encourage you to make it a tradition in your summer as well. Click here to go buy your early bird tickets via Eventbrite. ![]() | |
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Should your house be on the market over the holidays? |
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![]() 31 sellers in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County would say YES! Many homeowners took their house off the market over the holidays, some of whom will wait until the first Monday of January to re-list, and some of whom will wait until Spring to put them back on the market. And why not? There couldn't be too many people buying homes over the Christmas holiday, right? Looking back at this past holiday season, if you took your house off the market 10 days before Christmas (Dec 15) and waited until the first Monday after the New Year to put it back on the market.... You would have missed out on 31 buyers who signed contracts to buy homes between those dates. | |
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Contracts Slightly Slower in Sept, Nov |
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![]() There have been 241 contracts signed in the past three months (Sept, Oct, Nov) -- as compared to 248 contracts during the same months last year. With that small of a decline (-3%), we'll say that buyers are buying at "about the same pace" as last year. While I'd always like to see 3% - 5% year-over-year growth in the pace and price of sales, it is unlikely that we'll always see those steady increases. Thankfully, looking at a wider time frame, sales are up 5% year-over-year in 2015 through the end of October. More stats to come soon. | |
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Unique opportunity to build a home adjacent to Hillandale Park |
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![]() Location, location, location. Build your new home in the Keister school district, immediately adjacent to Hillandale Park, where hiking and biking and other recreational opportunities abound. You will be in close proximity to the JMU campus and downtown Harrisonburg. Three lots are being sold, as shown above....
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Resources for Buying and Selling Real Estate in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County |
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![]() Much of my time and energy in real estate is dedicated to working with buyers and sellers on their real estate goals. However, I also spend additional time analyzing our local real estate market and creating online resources to assist everyone in our community. Why do I spend time compiling all of this information? I believe that home buyers and sellers can make the best decisions with a detailed understanding of our local real estate market. I hope the resources I have created are helpful to you in understanding our real estate market as you consider buying and selling real estate. You can now find a compilation of all of these resources for buying and selling real estate in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County online at HarrisonburgRealEstateResources.com. | |
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21 Proposed Lots for Lakeview Drive (extended) |
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![]() click here for a larger version Lakeview Development Corporation is proposing a rezoning of 10.33 acres from A-2 to R-2C. There will be a public hearing this evening at 6:30 PM in the Board of Supervisors Meeting Room of the Rockingham County Administration Center (20 East Gay Street). A bit of background....
A few of the proposed new single family home lots back up to existing homes in Great Oaks on Confederacy Drive, and a few back up to existing building lots on Hastings Court in Crossroads Farm. Rockingham County Staff recommends that the rezoning be tabled, as outlined below....
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86 out of 100 buyers are buying for less than $300K |
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![]() Looking at home sales in the past year we find that....
Clearly, that also means that only 6% of our local market is comprised of home sales over $400K. All of this points towards our YTD median sales price of $186K. | |
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Understanding your mortgage quote (Loan Estimate) |
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![]() If you are talking to a lender about a potential mortgage on a home you might purchase, you are likely to receive a "Loan Estimate", the first page of which is shown above. This document will walk you through all of the basic terms of the proposed mortgage, and can help you easily compare two loan offers. For a full interactive explanation of this document, go check out the Loan Estimate Explorer at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau website. | |
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New developments in the works adjacent to Spotswood Country Club, Lakeview Golf Club? |
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![]() The Harrisonburg Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, December 9 at 7:00 PM in City Council Chambers (409 South Main Street) for the potential rezoning (R-1 to B-2C) of this land adjacent to Spotswood Country Club..... ![]() ....and.... The Rockingham County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, December 1 at 6:30 PM in the Board of Supervisors Meeting Room of the Rockingham County Administration Center (20 East Gay Street) for the potential rezoning (A-2 to R-2C) of this 10.33 acres being sold by Lakeview Golf Course. ![]() | |
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Find New Listings Fast |
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![]() Just a reminder, for anyone who missed it.... NewListingsInHarrisonburg.com allows you to quickly and easily scroll through the most recent residential listings in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, view the pertinent details, all of the photographs of the home, an area map, and then quickly and easily share that new listing with a friend, your spouse, your Realtor, etc. You can also sign up to receive an email alert every time there is a new listing.... ![]() If you have any questions about this new website, or suggestions for improving it, just let me know. Until then, go check it out, at NewListingsInHarrisonburg.com. | |
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What is the worst month to sell your home? |
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![]() Sorry for the bad news -- but it seems that December is the worst month to sell your home -- as the lowest percentage of active listings are likely to go under contract in December as compared to any other month of the year. The graph above examines what percentage of active listings have gone under contract in each of the past12 months -- thus, accounting for both fluctuation in buyer activity as well as fluctuation in inventory levels. | |
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Be proactive. Burn those Thanksgiving calories off BEFORE the big meal! |
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![]() Talk about planning ahead! You can participate in a four mile run on Thanksgiving morning, and then eat EVEN MORE on Thanksgiving afternoon/evening! Plus -- this event features a pumpkin pie station along the course -- who wants water along the course when you could have pumpkin pie! Some details from VA Momentum.... This year my kiddos will be participating in the Kids Dash -- and maybe next year I'll talk them into the longer run. Click here to register for the Rocktown Turkey Trot and/or the Gobble Gobble Kids Dash. | |
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First Lego League Team explains why you should keep your food waste out of the trash |
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![]() The video above (click it to go watch it) and the explanation below are brought to you by some creative and civic-minded youths in our community, who are a part of a FIRST LEGO League team known as The Brick Dawgs. In August of this year, the City of Harrisonburg switched to a single stream trash collection system. Now residents can put all of their recyclables and trash together in the same container. It gets sent to a facility an hour away that sorts the trash from the recyclable material. This is a better system because now, much more of our trash will get recycled. However, there is a problem. When people put food waste or liquids in the trash, it makes it a lot harder for other things to be recycled. It degrades and ruins some of the recyclable materials, especially newspapers or cardboard boxes, and then they can't be recycled anymore. Also, food is 60% water, so this adds unnecessary weight and volume to the trash that the city has to collect and transport, which costs a lot more money.Click here to watch their video. | |
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Potential Changes to Exit 245 on Interstate 81 |
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![]() The map above shows "Alternative 2", which is the identified as the Preferred Build Alternative at Exit 245 in the Exits 245 & 247 Interchange Alternative Analysis. Here are some comments from the Harrisonburg Rockingham Metropolitan Planning Organization that might help contextualize these possible future changes.... For Exit 245 the next steps are to line up funding. That is already in progress but at this time they are only looking at doing an interim improvement there. With the removal of the former hotel in the southeast quadrant of that interchange JMU offered the city some additional right-of-way and the city has requested funding to realign the northbound exit ramp to match up with the existing Forest Hill Road intersection on Port Republic Road. There would be little to no additional right of way impacts for this improvement. If funding is awarded then construction could begin next summer for this improvement but there is no guarantee that funding will come through.So, while these changes are likely in the future -- the exact nature of them has not been finalized, and many of the changes are not likely to take place for quite a few years. | |
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Showings strong in October after many slow months |
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![]() Looking at the graph above, you might not guess that home sales are up 5% year-over-year. But they are. Showings, however, as shown above, have been quite slow in many recent months. There were fewer showings in May, June, July, August and September as compared to the same month the previous year - yet despite this, home sales increased. October was a breath of fresh air, as showings increased dramatically (+60%) as compared to last year. | |
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Scott Rogers
Funkhouser Real
Estate Group
540-578-0102
scott@funkhousergroup.com
Licensed in the
Commonwealth of Virginia
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