Enjoy this brief video segment discussing real estate market conditions in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County as of the close of October.



What do you think?  Why has our market remained stable?  What will we see for the balance of 2009?

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THE NEW TAX CREDIT IS COMING, THE NEW TAX CREDIT IS COMING!
The House has passed the bill, as has the Senate, and the President may sign it as soon as tomorrow (November 6, 2009).  That's right --- the tax credits for home buyers are continuing --- and now they are being applied more widely.

FIRST-TIME BUYERS
You now have several more months to buy your new home --- you don't have to close by Nov 30 / Dec 1.  In fact, as long as you have the property under contract by April 30, 2010, you'll have until July 1, 2010 to close on the property.  The tax credit is still $8,000 with several imitations on income, home price, etc.

LONG TIME RESIDENTS OF SAME PRINCIPLE RESIDENCE
There's something for you too!  If you have owned and used the same residence as your principal residence for 5 (consecutive) years out of the last 8 years, you will likely be eligible for a $6,500 tax credit.  The deadline for closing is July 1, 2010 (as long as the property is under contract by April 31, 2010.)

TIMING
One important note here on timing --- if you're a first-time buyer, this new bill just extends your deadlines.  If you're a "long time resident of same principle residence" you'll can close on your new house (and be eligible the tax credit) as soon as the bill is signed into law.  That is to say that if you're a move-up (or down) buyer ready to close tomorrow (November 6th), you might want to wait another few days for the President to sign the bill.  You'll enjoy an additional $6,500 net gain --- in the form of a tax credit.

INCOME LIMITS
The new income limits are $125,000 for single buyers and $225,000 for couples.

THE ACTUAL LEGISLATION
Interested in the details of the actual bill?  Click here.

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Almost a year ago I mentioned that a new road connecting Erickson Avenue to Stone Spring Road was moving forward.  Construction is now moving forward, with lots of progress starting on the Erickson Avenue end of the connector.

Below is a map showing where that will be situated (click on the map for a larger version) and this is a web site with more details.

City Portion of Erickson Avenue / Stone Spring Road Connector:



The road shown above lies in the City, but the Connector will continue into the County, all the way to Route 33 East near Boyers Road. 

The map below shows an overlay of the approved map from VDOT over top of both an aerial and road view from Google Maps.  Click on either for a larger view.

Rockingham County Southeast Connector (1 of 2 portions)





As far as I can tell, the County portion will cut through the new campus of Rockingham Memorial Hospital, and then cross through Boyers Road before connecting with Route 33.  From what I have heard, Boyers Road will become a cul-de-sac before reaching Route 33.

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For the past three years (2006, 2007, 2008) we have seen a decline in the number of home sales in the 3rd Quarter (July, August, September) as compared to the 2nd Quarter (April, May, June).  These "seasonal" declines were 8%, 8% and 1% respectively.

This year, we saw a 15% INCREASE in sales in the 3rd Quarter as compared to the 2nd Quarter.  As stated, above, I have to conclude that either the First Time Buyer Tax Credit is working (creating more sales as we near the tax credit deadline), or our local real estate market is improving.  Or, I suppose, both could be occuring --- either independently, or as cause and effect.

If the tax credit is extended or expanded, I hypothesize that we'll continue to see an improving local market.  If the tax credit is not extended nor expanded, we'll then perhaps be able to determine whether the 2009-Q3 home sale extravaganza was related to the tax credit, or an improving market.

Stay tuned!

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I discovered today that the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County economy is in recovery! 



According to the data above, Harrisonburg is in "Recovery" --- though that includes a drop in employment, a drop in housing starts, and a drop in industrial production.  Data apparently wasn't available for housing prices, so I'll fill in the blank: median sales prices have decreased by 4% over the past year in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

So.....does this sound like recovery to you?  Dr. Rosser sheds some light on a property perspective in his comment at hburgnews....


I have to agree -- we're in a lot better spot than most other areas of Virginia and the U.S., though we still have progress to make before we see those metrics increasing again.

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Check out these two stories about Urban Exchange that both hit the news today . . .



Downtown living: Urban Exchange sets a new course for Downtown Harrisonburg  (The New Dominion)






Urban Jungle: Urban Exchange Home To City's First ‘Green' Roof  (Daily News Record)

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Click here to view updated construction photos, showcasing the nearly-complete Urban Exchange!  Both buildings (East and West) are now open, as of this pats Thursday.

Gym equipment will be delivered in the next few days, and the final construction details will be finalized.

To see the exciting developments at Urban Exchange for yourself, feel free to swing by our Leasing Center --- we're open nearly every day of the week from 12p - 5p.  Or, call Mary to schedule at 877-548-3831.

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I hope you enjoy this brief overview of the June 2009 market report...



Read on for a full review of the state of the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County residential real estate market.  Or....download the full report:
June 2009 Harrisonburg & Rockingham County Real Estate Market Report



While the pace of home sales continues to decline (25% lower in 2009 than in 2008), the median and average sales price continue to stay relatively steady in our local real estate market --- showing a 2.5% decline (median) and 0.2% decline (average) when comparing the first six months of 2008 to the first six months of 2009.  Our market continues to out-perform most other markets in Virginia, evading the 20% - 40% loss in home values seen in many areas.



In this graph, we see that 2009 sales volume (purple line) is still hovering well below 2008 sales volume (blue line) --- but we are seeing the predictable seasonal increase in home sales during the summer months.  The remainder of 2009 will be interesting to observe, as many first time buyers close on properties prior to December 1st to obtain the $8,000 tax credit.  July always takes a slight dip, so we'll see if that holds true for 2009.



This graph captures all residential real estate activity as reflected in the Harrisonburg/Rockingham MLS.  The 2009 year-to-date sales figures now include six months of sales data, and show only a slight decline in median sales prices ($195,500 to $190,000).  They sales volume (yellow bars), however, continue to decline.



When examining only single family home sales in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County we see that the median sales price continues to decline at a relatively slow rate (1%, 4%, 3%) when comparing 2009 to 2008 -- the good news is that single family homes (as a whole) aren't losing value as they are in many other markets.



When examining only townhome sales in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County we note that while the sales volume has dropped dramatically since 2005 (-18%, -15%, -37%), the median sales price has gained during that time period (2005 vs. 2009) and has stayed relatively steady between 2006 and 2009.



This graph shows a normalized trend of home sales by charting the ongoing sum of the preceding 12 months' sales.  We continue to see a decline in this metric, and likely will until the pace of sales stops its decline.



Inventory levels have stayed relatively level over the past three months, and have declined as compared to a year ago (932 vs. 956).  Lower inventory levels will (slowly) lead to a healthier local real estate market, as a balance between buyers and sellers returns.



With inventory levels holding steady, the number of months of supply of homes in the three lower price ranges noted above has stayed relatively steady.  We continue to see an increase in supply of $400k+ homes as compared to the sale pace of these homes.



After a relatively sharp decline in median price per square foot between 2008-Q2 and 2008-Q4, we have now seen an increase over the past two quarters in this metric.  This may be any early indicator of the stabilization of our local market, as the price that buyers are willing to pay per livable space stabilizes.



The chart above examines time on market for homes sold in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County during the past six months.  Homes with the lowest price points are selling the quickest, and homes in the upper price ranges are taking the longest time to sell. 

For example, overall only 11% of homes took longer than 1 year to sell, but 26% of homes selling over $400,000 took longer than a year to sell. 

Of note, the average days-on-market has actually declined since last month's market report.  Last month's report showed an average of 193 days, compared to the new overall average of 188 days.



When examining new single family homes in our local market, we see a steady decline since 2005 in the number of homes that are selling (yellow bars) accompanied by a slow decrease in the median price per square foot since 2006 (green line).  Of note, the  current median price/sf is still well above the 2005 level.



The graph above depicts the number of lots (less than 1 acre) selling in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County since 2000.  We continue to see only a small number of buyers in the market for building lots, with only 14 such closings having occurred during the first six months of this year.



Land sales (tracts larger than 1 acre) have also markedly decreased since 2005, but aside from the spike of activity in 2005, the pace of these land sales remained relatively constant between 2002 and 2007.  Last year, and the projected figures for this year show that there are very few buyers in the market for land at this time.

Download the full report here:
June 2009 Harrisonburg & Rockingham County Real Estate Market Report

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View a video introduction to the May 2009 Real Estate Market Report:



Read on for a full review of the state of the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County residential real estate market.  Or....download the full report:
May 2009 Harrisonburg & Rockingham County Real Estate Market Report



The four most commonly referenced measures of our local housing market (sales volume, median sales price, average sales price and average days on market) are all in worse shape in May 2009 than they were a year ago.  However, the median sales price is likely the most meaningful of the measures, and it continues to show a decline of only 3% when comparing May 2008 to May 2009, or when comparing January-May 2008 to January-May 2009.



In this graph, we see that 2009 sales volume (purple line) is still hovering well below 2008 sales volume (blue line) --- but the gap closed slightly in May as compared to March and April.  Perhaps we are seeing a normalizing trend, and sales volume in June, July and August of this year will be much closer to 2008 sales levels.  Greater stability will return to our market when sales volume stops declining.



This graph captures all residential real estate activity as reflected in the Harrisonburg/Rockingham MLS.  The 2009 year-to-date sales figures now include five months of sales data, and show only a slight decline in median sales prices.  Of note, the median residential sales price has not significantly changed since 2006.



When examining only single family home sales in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County we see that the median sales price continues to decline at a relatively slow rate (1%, 4%, 7%) when comparing 2009 to 2008.  Amidst these slight declines, the pace of sales (yellow bars) continues to decline drastically.



When examining only townhome sales in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County we note that while the sales volume has dropped dramatically since 2005 (-18%, -15%, -37%), the median sales price has gained during that time period (2005 vs. 2009) and has stayed steady between 2006 and 2009.



This graph shows a normalized trend of home sales by charting the ongoing sum of the preceding 12 months' sales.  We continue to see a decline in this metric, and likely will until the pace of sales stops its decline.



Of note, inventory declined slightly between the end of April and the end of May.  This is great news for the overall health of our market, as it will reduce the high inventory levels and slowly start to balance out our market.  This is a surprising trend for the early summer months!



With inventory levels holding steady, the number of months of supply of homes in each price range noted above has stayed relatively steady.  Of note, this is the first month that any of these trend lines have crossed, as can be noted between the $200k-$300k and $300k-$400k lines.



The median price per square foot of all single family homes sold since 2002 in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County shows that homes have started selling at a somewhat higher rate over the past several quarters when examining their cost per functional space. 



The chart above examines time on market for homes sold in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County during the past six months.  Homes with the lowest price points are selling the quickest, and homes in the upper price ranges are taking the longest time to sell. 

For example, overall only 10% of homes took longer than 1 year to sell, but 26% of homes selling over $400,000 took longer than a year to sell. 

In contrast, only 13% of these homes over $400,000 sold in the first three months, while 37% of homes selling for less than $200,000 sold in the first three months of being on the market.



When examining only new single family homes in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, we can see a steady decline since 2005 in the number of such homes that are selling (yellow bars) accompanied by a slow decrease in the median price per square foot since 2006 (green line).



The graph above depicts the number of lots (less than 1 acre) selling in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County since 2000.  The last several years have been unbelievably slow for lot sales, likely because many builders have been holding back on starting construction on new homes given the trends in the residential sales market.



Land sales (tracts larger than 1 acre) have also markedly decreased since 2005, but aside from the spike of activity in 2005, the pace of these land sales remained relatively constant between 2002 and 2007.  Last year, and the projected figures for this year show that there are very few buyers in the market for land at this time.

Download the full report here:
May 2009 Harrisonburg & Rockingham County Real Estate Market Report

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Construction is moving along steadily at Urban Exchange in downtown Harrisonburg.  This exciting new mixed-use community will include 194 condos, two levels of structured parking, and approximately 12,000 square feet of retail space.  

Over the past 16 months, we have been excited to see that people crossing nearly every demographic have interest in living at Urban Exchange.  Those having committed to living at Urban Exchange span an age range of 20 to 80, and include retirees, young professionals, university faculty and staff, undergraduate and graduate students, families with children, employees of growing local companies such as Rosetta Stone, SRI, SI, RMH, and more.  

Urban Exchange is comprised of two wings with approximately 100 condos in each, and when we broke ground in February 2008, we did so with the vision of selling the condos in the West Wing, and leasing them in the East Wing.  This past week, however, we made the decision to lease all 194 condos instead of selling half of them --- primarily because of the significant changes in the condominium financing market that have taken place over the past 12 to 18 months.

The West Wing of Urban Exchange is comprised of 98 condos, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines dictate that 51% (soon to be 70%) of such condos must be owner-occupied in order for any purchaser to use a conventional mortgage for purchasing at Urban Exchange.  Furthermore, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will not allow loans to close on any condos until 51% of the condos are reserved.

Given these guidelines, we knew that it would be difficult to orchestrate the sale of 70 condos nearly simultaneously, but we were determined to attempt to do so.  Unfortunately, a few timing and logistical factors conspired against us:

1. Construction on the East Wing (for lease) was started two months prior to construction on the West Wing (for sale).
2. Prospective Urban Exchange tenants were willing to sign leases well before their condo was close to being complete.  (In fact, I believe the first leases were signed before we even had a single piece of lumber on the work site!)  As of last week, 75% of the East Tower was leased, and 25% of the West Tower was leased.
3. Prospective Urban Exchange buyers were hesitant to sign even a non-binding reservation agreement until their condo and the building as a whole was nearly complete if not entirely complete.  As of last week, 15% of the West Tower was reserved for purchase.

Last week, when this decision was made, we were at the crossroad we had anticipated for several months.  We were seeing 5 to 6 new leases a week, yet nearly all of the prospective buyers (without reservations) were waiting to commit until construction was nearly complete.  We realized that within the next few weeks we would have to start turning prospective tenants away if were to preserve enough owner-occupied units in the West Tower to achieve the occupancy standards from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  

Given the vast, early demand from tenants to live in Urban Exchange, and the delayed, hesitant demand from buyers --- last week we decided to move forward with leasing all of the condos at Urban Exchange.

We have discussed this change at length with all of the buyers who had reservations at Urban Exchange, but we know that there were quite a few other prospective buyers who had not yet committed to purchase.  If you are one such person, and are still excited about the possibility of buying a condo in downtown Harrisonburg, we'd like to stay in touch with you.  

The developers of Urban Exchange own several other properties in downtown Harrisonburg where they will be developing condos after Urban Exchange is complete.  The next two projects that they will be developing will be considerably smaller than Urban Exchange (15-25 units) and thus will be much more feasible for condo sales.  In approximately six months we will be starting to hold focus groups with any such interested downtown condo buyers, as we begin the design and planning stages of these next projects.  If you would like to know when these focus groups begin, please click here.

Thank you for your continued support of and excitement for Urban Exchange --- while the decision to lease all of the condos marks a slight change in direction, it will still be bringing dynamic change to our downtown district.  In just over a month, the first residents will be moving into Urban Exchange, and as the next few months unfold, we will be building up to over 300 new residents of downtown Harrisonburg in an exciting and diverse community at Urban Exchange

If you have any questions about this change in direction at Urban Exchange, please contact me (Scott Rogers, 540-578-0102, scott@LiveUE.com), and if you have interest in further details on leasing a condo at Urban Exchange please contact Mary Messerly (540-421-9341, mary@LiveUE.com).

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We've all (hopefully) heard of the $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers --- if you haven't owned a home in the past three years you can receive $8,000 if you buy one by November 30th of this year (6.5 months to go).

But yesterday, the HUD Secretary announced that the Federal Housing Administration is going to permit buyers to use the $8,000 tax credit as a downpayment! 

More details will be forthcoming -- check with your lender in the coming weeks to see how this might work for your situation.

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Interest rates for a typical 30-year loan have never been better --- since they started being recorded in 1970.  They're hovering just below 5% right now --- could they go lower?

Of note --- rates for the purchase of an investment property may be as low as 5.25% on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage.  This was a quote from Debbie Huntley (540-568-1056) at SunTrust Mortgage yesterday (4/24/2009).

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Get up close and personal (thanks to unanticipated loud construction equipment) with Harrisonburg mayor Kai Degner, and hear about the upcoming Mayor's Sustainability Summit to be held in downtown Harrisonburg.



As Kai mentioned, the agenda for the Summit will be formed around the interests and desires of those in attendance, but may likely include topics such as:

• renewable energy
• local foods
• preparing for a post peak-oil world
• green space
• bike share programs
• energy conservation initiatives
• climate change

Kai's theory is that the first step towards making any of these large scale community changes is to create dialogue in our local community.  It is bound to be a fun and thought-provoking day.  Mark it on your calendar....

Mayor's Sustainability Summit
Saturday, May 30, 2009
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Starting and ending in Court Square Theater
View more details by clicking here.

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It's finally (mostly) here --- Google Street View for Harrisonburg.  Now, you can drive around (many of) the streets of Harrisonburg using Google Maps, seeing a street level view of the City.  Here are a few sample shots of what you'll find...







It's really quite addictive to play around with --- you can spin around and look at a street from many different angles.  This is a fantastic tool for out of town buyers relocating to Harrisonburg.  It is, however, still a bit limited --- street level imagery only exists for the roads highlighted in blue below.



How does Google do it?  The send a car up and down street after street with a multi-directional camera mounted to the roof of the car.  Here's a picture of one of the Google Street View image collectors:



Click here to start exploring on Google Street View in Harrisonburg.

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In an exciting (and very ambitious) move, the Green Building Committee of the Shenandoah Valley Builders Association will be building a home with Habitat for Humanity ON SITE at the 2009 Home and Garden Show!



The foundation for this home is being poured this week in Grottoes, and after the home show, the home will be moved to Grottoes to be set in place.  Volunteers from MANY different companies and organizations will be working together to build the home during the three day (April 3, 4, 5) home and garden show at JMU's Convocation Center.

If you, your company, or your organization would like to donate materials or labor to this tremendous effort, please contact Aaron Yoder by e-mail at homestead.frame@gmail.com.

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Yellow, Red Bridge to be installed on Tuesday!

All day tomorrow (Monday) we'll be setting up a HUGE crane next to the Urban Exchange construction site.  Then, on Tuesday between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. we'll be using the crane to (carefully, slowly) lift the red bridge and the yellow bridge over top of the East Wing, and down between the wings to span the courtyard area.

Feel free to drive by to see the action, or watch it live from across the street!  Call me (540-578-0102) or e-mail me (scott@cbfunkhouser.com) with any questions.

Become a fan of Urban Exchange on Facebook!

Are you on Facebook?  If so, become a fan of Urban Exchange --- click here to visit the Urban Exchange page on Facebook.

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Just a few hours ago, the long-awaited (by some) stimulus package made its way through Congress, and it will likely be signed by President Obama by the end of the weekend.  The stimulus plan affects many areas of our economy, as described in this AP press release, but one section in particular should stand out for first time home buyers.

Potential first time home buyers will now have an $8,000 reason to buy a house in the next nine months!  Here are a few of the fine details of this new (soon-to-be-finalized) legislation:

• You must buy a home between January 1, 2009 and November 30, 2009 to be eligible.
• Only those who have not owned a home in the past three years are eligible for the tax credit.
• The $8,000 tax credit will be applied to the 2009 tax year --- you'll actually receive the $8,000 financial benefit in Spring 2010 (whenever you file your taxes).
• The $8,000 tax credit does NOT have be re-paid, unless the home is sold within the first three years.

There are certainly several other fine points to know (it is, after all, a 1,000+ page piece of legislation), but those are the main points to remember.  If you are a first time buyer, or if you know one, this makes it a great time to consider buying a house.  (Oh yeah, low interest rates, lots of housing choices, and lots of negotiation power with sellers are also a good reasons to get in the buying market.)

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The top-notch newshounds at Crocktown must have been out early this morning to see the results of my new partnership with VDOT, as they already broke the story!

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I spent the day today at an EarthCraft certification course learning about how to build higher quality homes, that are healthier, more comfortable, and have lower utility costs for homeowners.

Click below to watch a brief interview with Aaron Yoder, the president of the Green Building Committee of the Shenandoah Valley Builders Association.



I learned a lot today, which I'll continue to share over the coming weeks in this space --- but if you are considering building or buying a green home, please be in touch --- I'd love to fill you in on what you should be looking for in a builder and a home.

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As Harrisonburg has grown, we have begun to see an increasing number of housing trends from across the country find their way to Harrisonburg, for example, Harrisonburg's first downtown condo project. 

The beautiful home pictured above is another example of a first --- a 55+ community in Harrisonburg!

Here are some high points of Heritage Estates, a stunning new community on Garbers Church Road, on the western edge of Harrisonburg:

• Award-winning French Country designs
• Maintenance-Free lifestyle
• Private community pool
• Next-door access to Heritage Oaks Golf Course

Learn more by visiting www.HeritageEstates.US, or by calling me at 540-578-0102.

Heritage Estates is being developed and built by Scripture Communities, and marketed and sold by Coldwell Banker Funkhouser Realtors.

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