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Home Sales, Median Prices on the Rise in 2016 Q1 |
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 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.... | |
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Merck announces major improvements of Elkton facility |
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 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! | |
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Massanutten Resort announces Bike Park to open in 2016 |
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 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) | |
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Local Housing Market Shows Continued Strength in February 2016 |
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 Learn more about this month's Featured Property: 120 Cantermill Lane 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 February....  As outlined above, there are several indicators of a strong local housing market....
 The pace (and price) of single family homes are often a good way to understand the overall trajectory of a local housing market -- because it takes rental properties (and the impact of investors) out of the mix. As such, it is good to see the price of these home sales increasing (quite a bit) even if the pace of sales has not significantly increased over the past few years.  Inventory levels are still hovering around 530/540 -- but are on the brink of increasing significantly, which will likely happen over the next 30 to 60 days. Hang on tight! In Summary.... BUYERS -- You should have plenty of additional options to consider in the coming months, but houses that are priced well will likely sell quickly. Strike while the iron is hot -- and relish the opportunity to still have super low (sub 4%) fixed mortgage interest rates. SELLERS -- Price, Condition, Marketing. If you are getting ready to put your house on the market, let's make sure we have your house priced well compared to what has recently sold, that your house is in a condition to have a broad appeal to buyers, and of course, let's market it thoroughly and professionally. More and Much, Much More.... There is more, oh so much more, in my full real estate market report. I have even made it very easily accessible for you to read online....  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. Finally, here are two handy references to prepare yourself to buy or sell.... And if you are ready to get the process started, simply contact me at 540-578-0102 or scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com. | |
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Local Housing Market Sees Strong Start in January 2016 |
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 Learn more about this month's Featured Property: 3853 Traveler Road 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.... A Video Overview....  Let's start by taking a look at the overall market performance in January and over the past twelve months....  Strong Sales Pace.... As shown above, we saw a strong month of sales in January -- with 67 home sales, as compared to only 49 last January. This 37% year-over-year improvement in January 2016 contributed to a 6.42% year-over-year increase in the annualized pace of home sales in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Increasing Prices.... While the median price ticked down 0.51% when only looking at January 2016 figures, the median sales price over the past 12 months increased by 2.83% to $185,000 compared to the previous 12 months. Faster Sales... Homes are also selling faster -- at a median pace of 55 days on the market based on sales in the past 12 months.  When looking at a rolling 12-month time frame in the graph above, we note that:
Buyers and sellers signed 74 contracts in January 2016 -- as compared to 76 last January. This is despite a large snowstorm that slowed down the market for at least a week during January. This is an indicator that we are likely to see a similar number of February home sales this year as we did last year.
Inventory levels (the number of homes for sale) are at their lowest levels seen anytime in the past eight months. This is not surprising given the time of year we are in -- though year-over-year inventory levels have also declined by 2%. More and Much, Much More.... | |
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Harrisonburg Commercial Real Estate Market in 2015 |
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 Walmart, Gabe's and Hobby Lobby were some of the major participants in the commercial real estate market in 2015, but as noted in today's DNR article.... [...] it's a nonbuilding project, the completion of the half-loop connecting U.S. 33 east and west of Harrisonburg known as the Southeast Connector, that's predicted to have the greatest effect on commercial real estate.Read the fully Daily News Record article for an overview of some of the changes and new developments seen in the Harrisonburg commercial real estate market in 2015. | |
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Harrisonburg Year End Real Estate Market Report |
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 Learn more about this month's Featured Property: 6190 Dotts Lane 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....  A year-end look at the numbers is always fun -- we finally have all of the numbers in and now we know the following about 2015 when looking at the residential real estate market in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County....
But wait! Before we mash all of the data together and call everything wonderful, here is something interesting....  As shown above....
Here is a colorful and fun and uplifting graph....  Just another visual indication (above) of the improvements we have seen in our local real estate market over the past few years. The most notable jump in the pace of sales was between 2012 and 2013 -- but we finally broke into the 1100's this past year. Buyer Activity....  As shown above, contracts picked up a bit in December 2015 -- to 67 contracts as compared to only 63 last December. However -- the annual pace of buyers signing contracts declined slightly, from 1192 to 1172. Of note -- despite fewer contracts in 2015 -- there were more sales -- which is an indication that more contracts are successfully making it through to closing. More and Much, Much More.... There is more, oh so much more, in my full year-end real estate market report. I have even made it very easily accessible for you to read online.... 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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After almost ten years, the Fed raised rates, and wait until you see what happened to mortgage interest rates |
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 So, after almost a decade, the Fed raised rates. What happened to mortgage interest rates? Per the graph above, not much has happened thus far. Rates have edged up a bit over the past few weeks, and have headed back into the 4-point-something territory, but we were there (and a bit higher) as recently as this past summer, so that's not necessarily new territory. Maybe if we look back a bit further, we'll see that this rise to 4.01% is really disastrous?  Nope! If we look back over the past three years (2013-2015) we'll notice that there as a long time frame during those years (shaded in yellow) when the rates were above 4 percent. So, we'll see where things go from here, but thus far, the Fed's actions do not seem to have resulted in an end to super low mortgage interest rates. | |
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Will mortgage interest rates shoot skyward? |
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 The Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that it will raise its key interest rate for the first time in almost a decade. This is expected to lead to gradual increases in mortgage interest rates. WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that it would raise short-term interest rates for the first time since the financial crisis, a decision it described as a vote of confidence in the American economy even as much of the rest of the world struggles.Read more in this NY Times article. | |
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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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November 2015 Harrisonburg Housing Market Report |
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 Learn more about this month's Featured Property: 1730 Buckingham Drive 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....  October 2015 home sales were a bit slower (-7%) than last October -- but year to date home sales (January - October) have increased 5% in 2015 as compared to 2014. This increase in the pace of home sales has been accompanied by a 4% increase in both the median sales price and the average sales price -- and the time it takes to sell a home (median days on market) has declined by14% to 56 days. So -- more homes are selling, more quickly, at higher prices. Good news (for home sellers) on all three counts.  As shown above, October home sales on their own, fit into the middle of the pack as compared to the past few October's. That said, 2015 has been a turbulent year over all -- with several months (June, August) hitting never-seen-before monthly high's -- and with some slower months as well. Looking forward, the past two years have shown dreadfully slow months of November -- will we really see that much of a decline this year? Or will sales stay a bit stronger this November?  I greatly enjoy the graph above -- it most readily shows the overall improvement of the (YTD) home sales market over the past five years in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Clearly, there was a significant recovery in the pace of sales between 2012 and 2013 -- but we have seen continued recovery in 2014 (barely) and 2015 (more significantly).  Inventory levels climbed ever so slightly (+1%) year-over-year in October -- and actually increased slightly from where we were a month ago. We will likely see these inventory levels drop off over the next few months as we head into the winter market. 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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Uber is now live in Harrisonburg |
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 Looking for a ride from here to there? Check out Uber, a fast and easy way to get around Harrisonburg. Just download the app, request a pick up, and minutes later, an Uber driver will pick you up to take you to your destination.  I have used Uber in Richmond, Washington DC and New York City, and it was a great option for getting around. On a recent trip to Washington DC to see the museums and monuments, our family of four took the Metro for one leg of our journey, and Uber for the next. Uber was less expensive and a lot faster. Once you tap the button to request a ride, you can see, in real time, the Uber vehicle driving towards your pick up point -- and you can see a photo and the name of the driver to let you know who to expect, plus, their past passenger's ratings. When you are done with a ride, payment is automatically made through the app -- you do not have to have any money with you. Furthermore, you are able to rate the driver. Clearly, I'm a fan of Uber -- and while I don't know how often I'd really use it in Harrisonburg, I'm excited that it is now in our City, as I think it is a great transportation option for residents of and visitors to our growing metropolis. | |
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October 2015 Harrisonburg Housing Market Report |
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 Learn more about this month's Featured Property: 775 Confederacy Drive 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....  After a wild and crazy month of August home sales (all 126 of them) the market cooled off a bit in September, showing a 13% decline in home sales. That said, the year-to-date pace of home sales is still 6% higher than it was last year -- and the median sales price has increased by 6% over the past year. Finally, homes are selling faster -- the median days on market is down 17% as compared to this time last year.  As shown above, the Summer 2015 real estate market has been a bit of a roller coaster ride -- with high peaks in June and August, and slower sales in July and September. I am sure that the ride will finish safely at the station in December -- but I haven't ridden this one before to know if there are more peaks, twists or turns to be experienced in October and November.  We are getting closer! And closer! And closer! We're seeing fewer sellers in the market, and more buyers -- this means that our market is (finally!?!) approaching a balance. We're already seeing it in some price ranges (particularly under $200K) but it will be good to see it in our overall market as well.  Just as we saw last year, inventory levels stayed relatively steady between the end of August and the end of September. We are likely to start to see inventory levels decline much more quickly in the next 30 to 60 days. OK, that's it for now. I'll hit some high points here on HarrisonburgHousingToday.com in coming days. In the meantime, you can read the full October 2015 Harrisonburg Housing Market Report online or by downloading the 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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August Home Sales Hit 8 Year High per September 2015 Harrisonburg Housing Market Report |
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 Learn more about this month's Featured Property: 787 Confederacy Drive 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....  Good news -- after a a slightly slow July 2015 (16% fewer home sales as compared to July 2014) we saw the market pick back up again in August 2015 -- showing a 13% improvement over August 2014. This has contributed to the 8% year-to-date improvement in the pace of sales in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. As noted above, the median sales price has also increased by 7% thus far in 2015 -- and the average sales price is up 5% as compared to this time last year.  As noted in the headline, August home sales (all 120 of them) marked an eight year high for August home sales in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. This was after a slightly slower July. Looking at the entire summer, here's what we find....
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 has been seeing a steady increase in buyers in the market and a decline in sellers in the market -- and we are almost to a balanced market.
And, as shown above, inventory levels keep marching downward. It's typical for this time of year, but not the most exciting news for home buyers who are selecting from a smaller and smaller pool of prospective properties. OK, that's it for now. I'll hit some high points here on HarrisonburgHousingToday.com in coming days. In the meantime, you can read the full September 2015 Harrisonburg Housing Market Report online or by downloading the 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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City real estate tax rate drops $0.015 after increasing $0.045, so really, still an increase |
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 The City of Harrisonburg had decided to increase the tax rate by 4.5 cents in 2015 to 73.5 cents per $100 of assessed value. That has now been ratcheted back down (by 1.5 cents) to a final tax rate of $0.72. Read more in the Daily News Record. | |
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Introducing HarrisonburgInvestmentProperties.com |
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 Many of my past clients have considered, or are considering, the purchase of an investment property in Harrisonburg as a means for diversifying their investments. Today, I launched a new website, HarrisonburgInvestmentProperties.com to provide an overview of your options if you are considering the purchase of an investment property in Harrisonburg, Virginia. This new website features investment properties in a number of categories, including....  On this new website you can explore a variety of communities where you might consider the purchase of an investment property, and explore useful information such as the pace and price of sales in the community....  ....a concise investment analysis of a sample property in the community....  ....specific details of recent sales in the community....  ....and much more, including properties currently for sale, and a neighborhood map. But that's not all! I am also releasing several tools I have built in Microsoft Excel to aid in your analysis of potential rental properties, including a mortgage calculator and two different investment analysis worksheets. Check out these analysis tools here. Whether you are preparing to buy your first rental property, or your 10th, I hope that this new website will serve as a helpful resource to you. If you have suggestions for further additions to the site please let me, and if you would like my assistance in evaluating and purchasing investment properties in Harrisonburg, please email me (scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com) to set up a time for a preliminary consultation. | |
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30 Year Mortgage Interest Rates Dip Below 4%, Again |
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 Home buyers enjoyed mortgage interest rates below 4% for the first five months of this year -- and they even dropped as low as 3.6% in February. But after rates started rising in mid-April, they did not stop at 4% -- they kept on rising, and stayed largely above 4% for much of June and July. But no longer! Just when you thought mortgage interest rates were going to keep on climbing, to 4.5%, 5%, 5.5%, 6% and beyond -- they dropped again! The average mortgage interest rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage has again been below 4% for the past two weeks. Despite numerous false alarms of interest rates getting ready to go up, up, up over the past few years -- it still has not happened. I'm sure the rates will eventually go up, and yes, that will affect your monthly payment relative to your home's purchase price -- but for now, we can continue to enjoy these super (super) low interest rates below 4% -- yet again. | |
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August 2015 Harrisonburg Housing Market Report: Home Sales Up 6%, Prices Up 7% |
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 Learn more about this month's Featured Property: 1368 Bluewater 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....  First, the fun news. As noted above, when looking at 2015 YTD home sales, you'll find that the market has shown a 6% improvement over last year in the pace of sales -- and that the median sales price has risen by 7%. Both of these are signs of a strong, growing local real estate market. A third indicator to note is that the median time it takes for a house to go under contract (days on market) has fallen 11% over the past year.  You may have noted that July 2015 home sales (105) were a good bit below July 2014 home sales (125). It turns out the seven year high of 132 home sales seen in June 2015 may simply been a timing phenomenon. When combining June and July home sales, there were 237 home sales in June/July 2015 as compared to 236 home sales during June/July 2014 --as such, the two month track record for June and July is on pace with last year despite the decline in monthly sales in July 2015.  Looking, graphically, at the first seven months of home sales during 2015 (above) you can see that we're a good bit ahead of 2014 (YTD) and that this is the strongest January - July sales pace we have seen in at least the previous five years. Looking back further into the historical data, it seems that the last time we saw 628 (or more) January - July home sales was waaaay back in 2007.  While every market segment (price range, property type, neighborhood, specific house) has performed differently over the past four years -- it is certainly a welcome sign to see a nearly $20,000 increase in the median sales price over the past four years -- after having seen a $25,000 decline from the peak in 2007/2008.  After several months of year-over-year declines in the monthly pace of contracts being signed, we did see (above) a year-over-year increase during July 2015 with 118 contracts being signed by buyers (and sellers). We are likely to see 100+ contracts during August, and quite possibly into September and October as well. OK, that's it for now. I'll hit some high points here on HarrisonburgHousingToday.com in coming days. In the meantime, you can read the full August 2015 Harrisonburg Housing Market Report online or by downloading the 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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Sales of new construction homes speeding up in 2015! |
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 General market recovery (in both pace and price of sales) may finally be resulting in a return of new construction single family home sales. As shown above, we may see a big jump in the number of new construction home sales in 2015 -- perhaps beating out the past five years! | |
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Go ahead, set off those fireworks, June 2015 home sales were hot, hot, hot |
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 Despite having fewer showings in May/June and fewer contracts in June, it looks like June 2015 was a great month for (closed) home sales. With a few more sales likely to trickle in over the next few days, June 2015 home sales are already showing a 13% improvement over last June. Stay tuned for more analysis in the days to come.....and Happy Independence Day! | |
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Scott Rogers
Funkhouser Real
Estate Group
540-578-0102
scott@funkhousergroup.com
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