If you're thinking about listing your home for sale, you might be tempted to wait until Thursday or Friday - just in time for the weekend traffic, right? Not so fast. There are actually some solid reasons why putting your home on the market earlier in the week (think Monday or Tuesday) can work in your favor. Let's take a look at three of them.

1. More buyers are paying attention earlier in the week.

While weekends are popular for showings, many serious buyers are actively watching new listings the moment they hit the market - and that's often during the work week. If you list early in the week, your home has a better chance of being seen (and scheduled for showings) by those eager buyers keeping a close eye on their saved searches.

2. Buyers need time to talk to their lenders.

In today's competitive market, most buyers want to be pre-approved before they make an offer - and that often means a quick check-in with their lender. Listing your home earlier in the week gives interested buyers a bit of breathing room to get their financial ducks in a row before the weekend, when they might be ready to write an offer.

3. Weekends aren't as reliable as you'd think.

Yes, some buyers are out and about on the weekends, but many are also out of town, juggling kids' sports schedules, or catching up on errands or life. When your listing goes live early in the week, you catch the attention of buyers while they're still in town and in "house hunting" mode - not halfway through a weekend getaway.

The bottom line:

Listing earlier in the week can give your home more visibility, a better shot at weekend showings, and an edge with serious buyers who are ready to act. 

  

If you're buying a home in Harrisonburg or Rockingham County right now, you've probably noticed - there just aren't that many homes on the market.

When inventory is low, it's important to broaden your perspective just a bit. While we'll absolutely keep an eye out for the perfect house, we should also plan to visit homes that are close to what you're looking for -- even if they're missing a feature or two on your wish list.

Why? Because photos don't always tell the full story. 

Sometimes a home that looks just "okay" online feels much better in person. And every so often, a house that's slightly off your radar ends up being a surprisingly great fit with a little creativity or a small renovation.

So yes, let's keep that ideal home in mind. But let's also be open to the "almost right" ones -- they might just turn out to be perfect after all.

   

Sometimes a seller receives multiple GREAT offers on a house - but in the end they can only accept one of them.

It can be frustrating for qualified buyers who make strong offers to not be able to purchase a house that they love.

Sometimes, however...

1.  There are multiple buyers who love the house.

2.  There are multiple buyers who are very qualified to buy the house.

3.  There are multiple buyers who are willing to pay more than the asking price.

4.  There are multiple buyers who are willing to remove an inspection contingency.

Sellers in such a situation are typically delighted by the multiple strong offers -- but often find themselves having to say "no" to buyers who proposed very reasonable and strong offer terms -- because they can only say "yes" to one buyer.

To those sellers... congrats and good luck picking the best of multiple great offers.

To those buyers... condolences and know that the "no" you received may not have been a result of any deficiencies in your offer... just that there were multiple buyers making super compelling offers.

    

The average 30 year mortgage interest rate has been above 6% for the past three years (2022-2025) and sometimes we think of that in the context of mortgage interest rates having been below 4% between 2019 and 2021... but it can be helpful to look back even further for a broader perspective.

One way of breaking down the mortgage interest rates over time is as follows, with 5% and 7% being the break points.

1995 - 2002:  Rates were mostly above 7%.

2002 - 2010:  Rates were mostly between 5% and 7%.

2010 - 2022:  Rates were below 5%.

2022 - 2025:  Rates have been mostly between 5% and 7%.

Look ahead at the next three to five years, I think it is most likely that we will continue to see mortgage interest rates between 5% and 7%.

It is possible, but I think extremely unlikely that they will be below 5% again.

It is possible, but I think relatively unlikely that they will rise meaningfully above 7% and stay there.

If you're borrowing money via a mortgage to buy a house (most buyers are) then you will be paying some cost of borrowing that money in the way of a mortgage interest rate.  

The range of mortgage interest rates we have been seeing over the past three years seems likely to be what we'll see over the next three years... though perhaps we'll see rates drop a bit back towards 6% or even down to below 5% and 6%.

  

So, home buyers - don't wait for ultra-low rates to return - we are likely to be staying in the 5% to 7% range for a while - so focus on finding a home that fits your budget in the current mortgage interest rate environment.

And home sellers - with buyers more sensitive to monthly payments, pricing your home competitively is key to attracting serious interest.

  

Inventory levels (the number of homes for sale) have risen over the past several months in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County...

December 2024 = 138

January 2025 = 140

February 2025 = 150

March 2025 = 170

April 2025 = 176

But, let's keep it in perspective...

Inventory levels are (slightly) lower now than they were a year ago (175 vs. 186) and they are lower now than they were in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

The last time inventory levels rose above current levels (for more than a month was between July 2023 and February 2024.

If you are hoping to buy a home now or soon, you have somewhat more choices now than you would have had for most of the past year -- but not by much -- and it largely depends on your price range and the type of property you would like to buy.

If you are planning to sell a home soon, you might have slightly more competition -- maybe -- again, depending on your price range and the type of property you will be selling.

To make this data more meaningful for you, we will dive a bit deeper into the data to look just at a particular property type, location and price range.

 

I ran the numbers on this a few months ago but it's worth another look... and this time I stretched back even further to build a broader context.

Before Covid, before super low mortgage interest rates, we were seeing somewhere between 10% and 20% of homes selling over the asking price. 

Though... as we moved from 2016 through 2019 we started to see a gradual increase in the number of homes that were selling for more than the asking price.

  

And then, in 2020, things started to heat up... with 25% of homes selling over the asking price.

But in 2021... yikes... a full 43% of homes sold over the asking price.

That 40% plus threshold only stuck around for two years (2021 and 2022) but we have been in the 30% range ever since.

Despite mortgage interest rates leaving that super low (below 4%) range, we still see about a third of homes selling for more than the asking price.

So... when you list your home for sale... will you end up selling it for more than the asking price?

Quite possibly... that happens with about a third of homes these days... though it is largely dependent on how you price your home.

 

In which month do the most homes go under contract in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County?

#1 - May

#2 - March (just barely behind May)

#3 - April

So, we're just about through the three busiest months of the year for homes going under contract.

But, worry not, as these are the next three most active months...

#4 - August

#5 - June

#6 - July

And, as shown on the graph above, all three of those months are really (really) close.

So... we may be just finishing up the three most active months of the year, but we're about to enter the three next-most active months of the year.

Poor November and December... they hold the smallest share of contract activity.

By the way... on the methodology here...

I took the number of contracts signed per month and determined what portion of that year's contracts took place in during that month.

In other words, what percentage of 2024 contracts were signed in January... what percentage were signed in February, etc. 

And, then, for good measure - I averaged the past five years to get try to account for any single month in a single year abnormalities.

Does anything on the graph above surprise you?

 

Way back in May 2023 the former Rosetta Stone building in downtown Harrisonburg (all 47,860 SF of it) sold for $2,950,000... complete with 27 on-site parking spots.

Now, it seems this building will be converted into 89 affordable housing units, right in downtown Harrisonburg!

This new apartment complex will be called the Flats at West Market and will be possible due in part to a $1.2 million grant from the Commonwealth of Virginia's Housing Investment Program.

This $1.2 million grant going towards the Flats at West Market was a part of an overall  $17 million investment in workforce housing across Virginia.

Read more about the Flats at West Market as well as the Virginia Housing Investment Program via a variety of additional reporting below.

The Citizen:

Daily News Record: 

  

Governor Youngkin's Press Release: 

WHSV: 

 

There have been quite a few City resale townhomes listed for sale over the past month... but before we get there, let's build a bit of context...

When looking at City townhomes built between 2000 and 2020 here's the pace of sales over the past two years...

2023 = 56 townhome sales = 4.7 / month

2024 = 58 townhome sales = 4.8 / month

Thus far in 2025, however, we have seen far fewer sales...

2025 (through end-ish of May) = 16 sales = 3.2 / month

As we know... a sale requires both a buyer and a seller... and perhaps that lower number of townhome sales in the first (almost) five months of this year were a result of a lower number of townhome owners listing their townhouse for sale.

But now, we're seeing quite a few more City townhome owners ready to sell.

In the past 30 days we have seen nine such townhomes listed for sale, including new listings in these neighborhoods...

If we add in the three other townhomes that were listed prior to 30 days ago, these are the current listings of City townhomes built between 2000 and 2020...

And are buyers snapping up these fresh new listings?

Some of them.

Of the (12) total resale City townhomes (circa 2000-2020) four of them are under contract and that leaves these eight townhouses.

So, if you are looking to buy a City townhouse -- to live in, or as an investment property -- you have some options!

 

If your lease doesn't end for another six months, you might think it's too soon to start looking at homes. In many cases, however, starting your search early can actually be helpful to you as a buyer.  Here's why...

The longer we've been looking at houses together, the greater amount of context you'll have about our local market. You'll start to understand what different price points get you in various neighborhoods, how quickly homes are selling, and what features matter most to you. That kind of insight is hard to gain in just a few weeks if you wait to start looking at houses.

Getting a head start also gives you the luxury of time. If you wait too long, you may find yourself feeling rushed or pressured as your lease deadline approaches. Starting now means you can explore your options at your own pace and move forward with confidence when the right home comes along.

Finally, in a low inventory market (like we're currently seeing in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County) when you explore houses for a longer timeframe (a few months instead of a few weeks) you will have more houses to consider.  Each house that hits the market won't be a perfect fit, so the more properties we can consider, the better your chances of finding one that you love.

Bottom line - you don't need to wait to start your home search until you're ready to make a buying decision. Home buyers who start a bit earlier usually find themselves to be more informed, to better understand market dynamics, and to feel less stressful.  So, if you're thinking about buying in the next 6 months, let's talk sooner rather than later.