Learn more about this month's Featured Property: 953 Greenbriar Drive

I just published my monthly report on the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County real estate market.  Jump to the full online market report, download the PDF, or read on for highlights....

First, let's take a look at the overall market performance in September....



A few highlights from the basic data breakdown outlined above....

1. Home sales JUMPED UPWARD in September 2016 to 123 sales -- a 26.8% increase over last September when there were only 97 home sales!
    
2. We have now seen 998 home sales thus far in 2016 -- a 16.32% increase over the 858 home sales seen during the same timeframe last year.
    
3. The median sales price continues to increase -- and has now risen to $192,000 for 2016-YTD.  This is a 3.23% increase as compared to during the same timeframe in 2015.
    
4. Homes are selling 7.27% faster (median of 51 days on market) in 2016 as compared to in 2015 (median of 55 days).

Now, let's contextualize those strong September sales....

As stated above, there were a LOT of home sales in September 2016 -- a whopping 123 of them.  When was the most recent time when we saw this many homes sales (or more) during the month of September?  Waaaaaaay back in September 2005 when there were 136 home sales seems to be the only time we have ever seen more than 123 home sales.  Wow! 



The median sales price of single family homes are often an excellent indicator of the price trends in a local real estate market, as they show a purer form of owner occupant supply and demand.  When we examine townhouses as well, we are observing the buyer behavior of both owner occupants and investors -- and there can be much more short-term volatility in demand from investors.  So, with the assumption that we'll get the clearest picture of price trends by looking at single family homes, it is striking to see a steady increase in median sales prices of these properties as shown in the graph above.



This graph clearly illustrates what a busy buying season it has been over the past seven months. We have seen an average of 130 contracts per month over the past seven months -- as compared to an average of only 96 contracts per month during the same timeframe in 2015. These strong contract numbers, clearly, are leading to the busy season of closings -- and we are likely to see yet another strong month of sales in October based on these contracts.



Finally -- buyers are finding fewer and fewer choices in the market -- as inventory levels (as shown above) have declined 16% over the past year.  Looking back further (not shown above) there has been a 23% over the past two years! 

Well, there is much more to know, learn, read....but I'll pause here for now,  and I'll let you explore that and read further on your own if you so choose.  You can read my entire market report 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.

Here are two handy references to prepare yourself to buy or sell....

• BuyingAHomeInHarrisonburg.com


• SellingAHomeInHarrisonburg.com

And if you are ready to get the process started, simply contact me at 540-578-0102 or scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com.