We've had a turbulent real estate market over the past several years, and one of my clients was wondering if all property types had weathered the storm similarly.  More specifically, the question was raised of whether split foyers or ranches typically held their value better.  Let's take a look....



As you'll see above, both split foyers and ranches have seen a decline in sales over the past (almost) five years. 

• split foyer sales (quantity) have dropped 62% since 2006
• ranch sales (quantity) have dropped 54% since 2006

Here we see that ranch sales have not declined as far as split foyers in popularity.



The median sales price of both home styles have declined since 2006.

• split foyers have declined in median sales price by 16.9% since 2006
• ranches have declined in median sales price by 11.7% since 2006

Again, ranches fared better than split foyers in value adjustments.



Finally, examining the time it takes to sell each type of home (average days on market) we find that there used to be a difference in how long it took to see each type of home, but there is not any longer.

• split Foyers now take 20% longer to sell as compared to 2006
• ranches now take 61% longer to sell as compared to 2006

Again, it's very interesting that the days on market for each type of home have tracked with each other for the past few years.

Finally, let's examine the supply of each type of home.

• There are 46 split foyers currently on the market.  Given that 26 split foyers sold in the first 9.5 months of this year, it would take 17 months to sell all split foyers currently on the market.
• There are 278 ranches currently on the market.  Given that 197 ranches sold in the first 9.5 months of this year, it would take 13 months to sell all ranches currently on the market.

Given almost all of the comparisons above, it seems that ranches have fared better in the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County real estate market over the past (almost) five years.  Yet split foyers have their redeeming qualities -- they are a house layout that allow you to have lots of above ground square footage (including the "practically above ground" square footage of the lower level, at a better price than can be achieved with most other house types.

Buyers, please remember.... This information can be wisely understood to mean both that you should and that you should not buy a split foyer (or a ranch). 

• You might wisely choose to buy a ranch, because they seem to perform better in value and saleability than split foyers.
• You might also wisely choose to buy a split foyer, because the past five years have made them more affordable than their one-level counterparts.  Also, if you buy a house in a down market that doesn't do well in a down market (split foyer) --- and then you sell in a neutral market --- you'll likely have done better than to have bought the strong performer in the down market (ranch).
  

Please Note:  The 2010 figures above are based on sales from 1/1/2010 - 10/20/2010.  Additionally, the "split foyer" data includes split foyers, split 3-level homes and split 4-level homes.