Neighborhoods
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The Comfortable Feel Of An Established Neighborhood Might Come With, Surprise, An Older Home That Needs Some Updates |
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 An interesting dynamic in the Rockingham County real estate market is related to farmland and trees. Most land that that becomes a residential neighborhood is used as farmland before becoming a neighborhood. Thus, there usually aren't any trees on the property. This makes it easy to build the roads and houses - but means it takes a while for any trees that are planted by builders or homeowners to become established. Many home buyers love the feel of an established neighborhood, often because of the trees and other landscaping that give the neighborhood a comfortable feel. But yet, many home buyers also prefer newer homes that won't need updates and renovations. Thus, some home buyers find themselves choosing between... 1. Newer home in a newer neighborhood with young trees and not much of a feel of an established neighborhood. 2. Older (20+ years) home in a more established neighborhood with mature trees and landscaping. Which would you choose? | |
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How Should Harrisonburg and Rockingham County Think About The School Impact Of Previously Approved, Unstarted, Residential Developments? |
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 In reviewing a recently proposed rezoning request for a new residential development, I found this insightful comment from Rockingham County Public Schools... "This property is located in the Spotswood High School District. RCPS estimates this would generate an additional 25 students at Cub Run Elementary, 13 students at Montevideo Middle School, and 16 students at Spotswood High School. With proposed redistricting in the next year, each school will have the capacity to handle this increase in enrollment. However, it should be noted, that we estimate the cumulative effect of this development and others approved in the last 3 years once all are 100% built out would bring Cub Run near capacity." The last part is interesting and I don't know how the County plans to handle this situation... "However, it should be noted, that we estimate the cumulative effect of this development and others approved in the last 3 years once all are 100% built out would bring Cub Run near capacity." I believe this dynamic exists in both the City and County at the moment. If most or all residential developments that have been approved are built in the next few years then quite a few schools would likely be at or over capacity. I'm not sure how the County (or the City) should factor that dynamic into decisions about whether to approve additional proposed developments. Should the County and City assume that all approved developments will be built soon, and hesitate to approve more based on the theoretical potential cumulative impact of the developments that have not begun? Should the County and City ignore the potential cumulative impact of developments that have not begun and evaluate each new rezoning proposal based solely on the direct impact on schools for that one development? Perhaps they need to be somewhere in between these two extremes? Most new developments -- on their own -- won't cause a school or schools to be beyond capacity. If all approved and proposed new developments are built within the next few years it seems likely that some or many schools would be at or beyond capacity. But many (most?) approved developments have not been started... it is unclear if or when many of them will be developed. | |
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Leighton Place, To Include 150 Townhomes And 180 Apartments Proposed On Stone Spring Road Across From Preston Lake |
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 We may soon see another residential development near the intersection of Stone Spring Road and Spotswood Trail. Two parcels totaling 25.5 acres are currently zoned A-2 but a developer is proposing that they be rezoned R-5 to allow for the construction of 330 residential units to include 150 townhouses and 180 one and two bedroom apartments. Here's where the new development is being proposed...  The rezoning application and other documents prepared by the County can be viewed here. This new proposed development -- Leighton Place -- is immediately adjacent to the 280 unit rental community, Stone Ridge Crossing, that was approved last month by the Board of Supervisors. | |
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Almost Half Of Homes For Sale Are New Homes |
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 There are 136 homes for sale right now in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. But... of those 136 homes for sale... only 76 of them are resale homes. New Homes For Sale = 60 Resale Homes For Sale = 76 Thus, if you happen to want to buy a house of the property type, location, size and price of a new home community in our area -- you're in luck. If none of the new home communities in our area are of interest to you -- it's not as great of news -- instead of having 136 homes from which to choose, you only have 60 homes from which to choose. Here are the new home communities with the most homes currently for sale...
If you have questions about any of these new home communities, be in touch with me by phone (540-578-0102) or email. | |
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55 (More) Townhomes Proposed On Pear Street |
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 Just a short walk down Pear Street from where 33 townhomes are proposed there is now a new request for a rezoning of 6.77 acres to allow for 55 more townhomes to be built. This proposed development, to be called Zephyr Hill, is intended to consist of both two and three story townhomes, with and without garages. These 55 proposed townhomes would also be adjacent to the Cobblers Valley development currently being built by Ryan Homes. Here's the proposed site plan for these 55 townhomes...  The full County rezoning packet is available here. | |
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33 Townhouses Proposed To Be Built In The City of Harrisonburg, At The Entrance To Cobblers Valley |
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 Ryan Homes is currently building a neighborhood called Cobblers Valley in Rockingham County now 33 townhomes are proposed to be built in the City, at the entrance to Cobblers Valley. The property is already zoned for townhouses but the developer is requesting a subdivision ordinance variance to allow the townhouse lots to be built on a private street instead of a public street. You can download the reference documents from the Planning Commission's summary of the request here. This is the proposed layout of this small section of townhouses in the City...  | |
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Half of All Homes Listed For Sale in the Past 10 Days Were New Homes, or To Be Built Homes |
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 If you want to buy a home, great news... there have been 100 homes listed for sale over the past ten days! Oh, but wait. :-) Half of those homes were new homes or to-be-built homes, mostly in these neighborhoods...
So... [1] Great news that new homes are being built. Lots of people want to buy homes -- more than there are homeowners who want to sell their homes -- so it's great that new housing inventory is being built. [2] If you don't happen to want to buy a home in one of these new neighborhoods (based on location, property type, size, price, etc.) then you don't actually have 100 new listings from which to choose... it's really only 50. | |
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City and County Neighborhoods With The Highest Price Per Square Foot |
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 I'll start with what is probably a predictable sorting of neighborhoods based on sales prices over the past three years...  But now, a new sorting of the neighborhoods based on sold price per square foot reveals a very different order...  Does the second list surprise you? It might if you were thinking that the neighborhoods with the highest price per square foot would be revealing the most expensive neighborhoods for homes. As it turns out, the price per square foot in neighborhoods with expensive homes ends up being lower than in some neighborhoods with medium sized homes. Explore these neighborhoods further by visiting HarrisonburgNeighborhoods.com. | |
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Scott Rogers
Funkhouser Real
Estate Group
540-578-0102
scott@funkhousergroup.com
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Commonwealth of Virginia
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