This is probably no surprise, but the number of single family homes being built each year has diminished for the past few years.  The graph below shows the number of single family home building permits that have been issued for each of the past few years.


The 2008 figure is extrapolated from the January 2008 - June 2008 data showing 208 permits.

This is likely a good thing for our market, as some price ranges still have a significant excess of housing supply.  For example, 27 months of inventory exist in the $400k+ price range for the City of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. 

Perhaps this gradual decrease in the number of new single family homes being built is what has allowed our market to continue to see (slow and steady) increases in price --- median sales prices are up 3.5% over last year.