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Updates sales trends on HarrisonburgTownhouses.com |
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![]() HarrisonburgTownhouses.com has been updated with sales data from 2013-Q4, and many townhouse communities are (finally) starting to see median prices increase again. So, are you wondering about property values in your townhouse community? Or considering purchasing an investment property? Whatever the reason for your interest in townhouses in Harrisonburg, you will likely find the information you need at HarrisonburgTownhouses.com, including (for each townhouse community):
The townhouse communities featured on HarrisonburgTownhouses.com include:
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Download your tax returns from the IRS! |
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![]() This may be a helpful resource as you are providing documents to your lender during the home buying process. You can now download your tax returns from the IRS. I created an account and downloaded my transcripts relatively easily after dealing with some pop up windows being blocked. I found the "Record of Account Transcript" document to be the most comprehensive and helpful. It's nice to be able to download what the IRS is considering to have been your final tax filings. Check it out here: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript | |
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Price negotiability, pace of home sales seem highly correlated |
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![]() First, a disclaimer, I am not a statistician --- though I did take a fantastic stats class in grad school with Kevin Apple. That said, it sure would seem to me that there is a direct correlation between the pace of home sales, and the negotiability of home prices. Take a look at the graph above and let me know (online or offline) if you agree. Actual statisticians --- feel free to chime in. :) | |
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January Inventory vs. Full Year Home Sales |
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![]() As Todd Rhea so eloquently said in a comment on my blog post yesterday.... "This inventory analysis is a big deal for the local market. In 2009-2011 the local market entered the year with more gross inventory than homes that were sold in the following 12 months. This year for every inventory unit entering the year, there will likely be 2 sales in 2014. The impacts on price from Supply and Demand have never been repealed. With lower supply (inventory) and modestly growing demand, days on the market should continue to fall, and prices should increase in 2014."I agree wholeheartedly with Todd....
** Please note: The 2014 home sales shown in the graph above are a projection, not a promise. :) | |
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Listing inventory down 48% since 2010 peak |
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![]() Current active listing inventory (~529 properties for sale) in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County is at the lowest point since at least 2008 when I started tracking this data. The high point was in June 2010 when there were 1,015 homes for sale. Learn more about our local real estate market at HarrisonburgHousingMarket.com. | |
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2013 Year in Review shows 17% Increase in Home Sales, 1% Increase in Sales Prices |
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Wow! What a year! 2013 has now drawn to a close, and we witnessed some exciting milestones in our local real estate market.....
![]() As noted above, in 2013....
![]() Home sales were solid through the year, finishing out (1,013) well above 2012 home sales levels (864). It seems likely that we will see somewhere between 1,050 and 1,100 home sales in 2014. ![]() Inventory levels continue to decline, which is typical for this time of year, though we are now seeing the lowest inventory levels we have seen in over 5 years. This has several effects:
![]() While we are still seeing more foreclosures (222 in 2013) than is historically normal for this area (50-100 per year), it is encouraging to see foreclosures starting to decline at the same time that home sales are increasing. This should result in greater market stability on into the future. ![]() Sellers -- you ought to be encouraged that you may need to negotiate less in 2014 (depending on how your property is priced) -- buyers only negotiated an average of 4.2% off of the (final) list price of properties in 2013, as compared to 5.3% in 2011. ![]() An astonishing 37% of homes that sold in 2013 closed within 90 days of having first been listed.....and an additional 29% sold in the following three months. This lead to an overall median of 120 days on the market for those homes that did sell in 2013 -- this does not account for homes that were listed in 2013 but did not sell. There is a LOT more the full report, so click here to download the full January 2014 Harrisonburg & Rockingham County Real Estate Market Report. An Important Caveat: Yes, our overall housing market is improving. But no, that does not apply equally to all price ranges, locations and property types. We can chat about your specific property to see whether that segment of the market is performing better or worse than the overall market. And as always, if you're interested in talking to me about buying a home in Harrisonburg or Rockingham County.....or if you are interested in selling your current home.....just drop me a line by email (scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com) or call me at 540-578-0102. | |
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Where will interest rates go in 2014? |
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![]() Where will interest rates go in 2014? My guess is that we'll end this year somewhere between 4.25% and 5%. What is your forecast? | |
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3 Most Expensive Home Sales in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County in 2013 |
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![]() ![]() ![]() Explore high end homes currently for sale in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County online at HarrisonburgLuxuryHomes.com. | |
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Video Overview of new iPhone and iPad Apps |
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Funkhouser Real Estate Group launches Mobile Apps for Real Estate in the Shenandoah Valley |
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![]() I am thrilled to announce that you can now download our brand new mobile apps for exploring real estate in the Shenandoah Valley. These beautiful, easy to use apps were just released, and should make your real estate searching experience even easier and more fun than ever before. Our new app is available for the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices! ![]() Enjoy features such as.... GEO Location Search: GEO Location Search uses your phone's built in GPS device to search for properties around you. Refine your search using property or community filters to find the property you are looking for. Journey Search: Journey Search allows you to view properties within close proximity of your current location while you're on-the-go! This search will continue to update available properties as you travel. Perimeter Search: Through the Perimeter Search feature, using only your finger you can draw boundaries on the map view, showing available homes within the drawn area. Scope Search: Using the phone's built in camera and and an augmented reality engine, Scope Search displays property around you by simply pointing your phone in the direction of the property. In addition to the interactive search functionality, this app also syncs to your account with Funkhouser Real Estate Group ensuring saved data is accessible on your mobile device as well as Funkhouser Real Estate Group's website. Here are a few screenshots of the app in action on my iPad.... ![]() ![]() Have fun with our new mobile apps, and feel free to email me with any feedback or questions. ![]() | |
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Understanding Real Estate Assessments |
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As recently published in the Shenandoah Valley Business Journal.... It's that time of year again, when homeowners (at least in the City of Harrisonburg) are receiving notices of the reassessment of their property. As you strive to understand the new (or current) assessment of your property, let's have a brief refresher course on real estate assessments. First, many people (erroneously) believe that the assessment of their property is an indication of their home's value. In actuality, the assessed value of a property is the value assigned to the property by the local assessor's office, for the purpose of determining how much you will pay in taxes. Certainly, the assessed value is intended to be the precise value of your home – but it is quite possible that there is a disparity in this assessed value and market value. The market value of your home is the price at which it would sell in the current market. Sales Prices vs. Assessed Values in the City of Harrisonburg ![]() To better understand how assessed values relate to market value, I checked on the 2014 assessed value for each of the 328 properties that sold between January 1, 2013 and November 30, 2013. What I discovered, is that properties in the City of Harrisonburg sold, on average, for 97% of their assessed value. Looking a bit deeper, just over a third of City properties (39%) sold within 5% of their assessed value – the remaining 61% had a sales price that was more than 5% higher or lower than the assessed value. Sales Prices vs. Assessed Values in Rockingham County ![]() Performing the same analysis in Rockingham County, we discover that County properties are selling for slightly more than their assessed value (average of 106%) as compared to City properties that are selling for a bit less than their assessed value (average of 97%). Given the great variation in assessed values and market values, homeowners should not rely on their tax assessment for an understanding of their property's value. Furthermore, home buyers should not rely on assessed values to guide them in understanding the market value of a home that they might purchase. Both buyers and sellers should strive to understand the market value of a particular piece of real estate my analyzing similar homes that have recently sold and those currently on the market in a given neighborhood or price point. The relationship between assessed values and sales prices varies based on the price, size, age and location of the home. For a more thorough analysis of the topic, visit HarrisonburgAssessments.com. | |
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The Reserve at Stoneport seemingly one (significant) step closer to reality |
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![]() Per my prior reports, The Reserve at Stoneport may be one of the first new residential developments close to the new hospital location. Original indications were that The Reserve at Stoneport would consist of 396 apartment homes on 21.8 acres. On the last day of 2013, 11.166 of those acres transferred from the land development company (Stoneleigh Associates, LLC) to what would appear to be the developer who will build this community (The Reserve at Stone Port I, LLC). This 11.166 acre parcel sold for $1,500,000 --- or $134,336 per acre. Click here for a larger version of the map shown above. Click here for the Owners Consent that shows the specific location of these 11.166 acres. The image shown below is a rendering of The Reserve at Stoneport that was available as of October 2012. Stay tuned for updated information as it becomes available. ![]() These were the prior details of The Reserve at Stoneport that are no longer available on the Stoneport web site, but are likely still indicative of the general direction that this development will take....
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New Geographic Information System (GIS) for Rockingham County |
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![]() A new GIS service is available for Rockingham County -- bookmark it now -- http://rockingham.interactivegis.com. Per Rockingham County.... The increase in performance and stability along with new functionality will enhance user ability to interact and navigate inside the County map, obtaining data related to specific interests at a more efficient rate.I have explored a bit, and it does seem to be an improvement over the old GIS, and it even has a mobile site! Rockingham County GIS | |
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30 Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rates Close Out 2013 around 4.5% |
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![]() Late 2012 through early 2013 provided the lowest mortgage interest rates ever -- as low as 3.3%. While mortgage interest rates have now risen from those low levels, they have remained between 4.1% and 4.6% over the past six months. These are still wonderfully low interest rates from any sort of a long term perspective, providing buyers with the opportunity to lock in their housing costs at historically low levels. | |
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Two Days To Hit 1000 Home Sales |
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![]() With two days to go (Dec 30, 31) it seems likely that the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County residentiall real estate market will close out the year with an exciting milestone -- meeting or exceeding 1,000 home sales in a year. This would be a 16% improvement over the pace of home sales last year, and the first time we would have seen 1,000 home sales in a year since 2007. | |
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Harrisonburg in 3D via Google Maps |
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![]() A big thanks to Hamilton for pointing out that the new version of Google Maps now allows you to explore Harrisonburg in 3D....zooming, tilting, panning, and more. When you go to Google Maps on your browser make sure you are using the new Google Maps, it will probably let you know if you are using the old one. You might need a Gmail or Google Account to use it right now. Once you are on the new Google Maps click on the aerial view in the bottom left corner, called Earth view in the new Google Maps. Then zoom in over Harrisonburg and click on the tilt view button in the bottom right corner above the zoom buttons. The 3D mode uses more data so it can run slowly, but it offers a very intriguing way to explore Harrisonburg. | |
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Make plans to attend First Night 2014 in Downtown Harrisonburg |
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![]() Where will you be on New Years Eve? Consider Celebrating New Year's Eve in Downtown Harrisonburg.... Ring in the New Year with thousands of your friends and neighbors at First Night Harrisonburg 2014 on December 31st. Activities and performances will begin at 6:00 p.m. and continue until Midnight in downtown Harrisonburg. First Night buttons are available for only $6 in advance and $8 on the day of the event. Children 5 and under are admitted free of charge. The button serves as your admission pass that grants you access to every performance and every venue throughout the night. That's more than 30 performances in 15 venues! All of the venues are alcohol-free, and are within easy walking distance. And, at the stroke of midnight, we celebrate the dawning of a new year with a spectacular fireworks display that can be seen from the Municipal Parking Lot and Turner Pavilion in downtown Harrisonburg. Click here to see this year's entertainers. Click here to connect with First Night on Facebook. | |
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Update on Hotel Madison |
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![]() A 205-room hotel and 21,000 SF conference center might be built on South Main Street between Grace Street and Cantrell Avenue through a public-private partnership. This $40 million project could result in over $1 million in tax revenues for the City during its first year of operations per a feasibility study recently provided to the City. The City of Harrisonburg is being asked to pay for $10 million of the project, which would cover the cost of the conference center. The developer would build the hotel and conference center on JMU-owned land in the location described and shown above. As a side note, this is being described as a downtown hotel and conference center --- though the corner of Cantrell Avenue and South Main Street doesn't quite seem downtown to me --- or to the creators of the downtown maps. Read more about this project....
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Slightly Revised Preston Lake Proposal |
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![]() Slightly revised documents related to this evening's meeting for the proposed rezoning / expansion of Preston Lake.
Some notable items, some of which are changes, some are not.... There will be a divider between the apartments and the remainder of the community.
The quantity of each type of dwelling could change from this proposed plan.
The order and timing of the development each type of housing is unknown.
There has been some discussion of how Preston Lake would get to the point of having a community center and pool.
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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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