Brought to you by Scott P. Rogers, Funkhouser Real Estate Group, 540-578-0102, scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com
Brought to you by Scott P. Rogers, Funkhouser Real Estate Group, 540-578-0102, scott@HarrisonburgHousingToday.com
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Find out more about this new listing in Lakewood Estates shown above by clicking here.
I just published my most recent monthly market report, and as usual, you can read on for an overview, download the full report as a PDF or read the entire report with commentary online.
Taking a look, first, at a high level overview of the market thus far in 2017....
As shown above....
- Home sales dipped ever so slightly in October 2017 -- down to 96 from 97 last October.
- Year-to-date home sales are 4.62% slower than we saw last year.
- The year-to-date median sales price has risen 2.1% to $196,025 over the past year.
- The median sales price over the past 12 months is $196,125 -- which is a full 3.22% higher than in the previous 12 months.
- Homes are selling quickly! Median days on market has dropped 36.54% down to 33 days thus far in 2017.
So -- while slightly fewer (-5%) homes are selling this year, they are selling at higher (+2%) prices, and are selling much (+37%) more quickly!
As shown above, this year lost its momentum in August and September -- where monthly home sales (118, 105) were no match for last year (158, 129). Things leveled out, a bit, in October -- with just about the same number of home sales (96 vs. 97) this year as last year. Where things will go next month is anyone's guess -- looking at the past three years, November home sales have ranged from 68 all the way up to 113!
Above, visualized slightly differently, you can see that 2017 home sales were on par with (actually exceeding) last year up and through July before we then fell behind in August, September and now October. It seems certain that we'll finish out the year with fewer home sales this year than last, but more than in 2015. All that said -- as one of my clients pointed out -- maybe we shouldn't care if home sales slow down?
Indeed -- a slightly slower pace (-5%) of home sales might not be an negative indicator of market health -- that decline could be a result of declining inventory levels. Perhaps a better sign of a robust and improving local real estate market is the 7% increase in the median sales price of single family homes between 2015 and 2016, and the apparent 5% increase we seem likely to end up with in 2017.
Speaking of slowing sales possibly being a result of lower inventory levels -- yes -- inventory levels are still way (-26%) below where they were last year at this time. And -- no good news here -- it would seem that we will likely see a further seasonal decline in the number of homes on the market as we continue through November, December and January!? Home buyers will likely have a tough time finding options over the next few months -- depending on their price range, where they want to (or are willing to) buy, etc.
Let's pause there for now -- though I will continue to explore the latest trend in our local housing market in the coming days on my blog.
Until then -- feel free to download and read my full market report as a PDF, or read the entire report online.
And if you will be preparing to sell your home soon, you might find these websites helpful....
