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
Monday, August 12, 2019
Summer is here! Oh wait, summer is gone!? Once that first week of August hits, it seems it's almost time for school to start again. Where did the summer go!?! While I ponder how another summer flew by so fast, let's take a few minutes to reflect on the state of our local housing market.
But first - the beautiful home pictured above is this month's featured home - a spacious upscale home in Barrington with a finished basement, guest house and private courtyard! Check out the details at 2860BarringtonDrive.com.
Now, onto the data! Download the full 28-page market report as a PDF, or read on...
As shown above, July was a strong month for home sales...
- There were 149 home sales in July - up 13.74% from last July!
- We've seen 784 home sales this year, down just 0.13% (or, one house) from last year at this time.
- The median sales price thus far in 2019 has been $219K -- up 1.86% from last year at this time when it was $215K.
- It's taking even less time (a median of 17 days) for homes to go under contract this year, a 22.73% decline from last year's median of 22 days.
Diving slightly deeper, let's see how detached homes compared to attached homes. An "attached home" is a duplex, townhouse or condo...
As shown above, there are some differences in these two broad segments of our local market...
- The pace of detached home sales increased 1.71% over the past year.
- The median sales price of those detached homes is down 1.09% to $227,500.
- The pace of attached home sales decreased 5.87% over the past year.
- The median sales price of those attached homes rose 4.85% to $173,000.
And just how did this past July compare to some other months of July?
This was a bit of a surprise to me! June home sales were rather slow compared to previous months of June. I didn't anticipate that a slower June would so quickly translate into a faster paced July - but wow! Looking back at the past three years we have seen 115, 117 and 131 homes sales during July. This year it was 149 home sales! An impressive showing for buyers in the local marketplace!
And here's how that strong month of July contributed to the overall year...
If we were a bit behind as of the end of last month (635 vs. 654) we just about (just about!) caught back up in July -- as there have now been 784 home sales thus far in 2019 compared to 785 last year. it would seem we'll probably make it back to around 1300 home sales this year.
And now, let's step back a bit...
This is the slooooooooowest moving graph ever - it looks at a rolling twelve months of sales data. Here, though, we see that the general trend is a consistent-ish pace of home sales -- and slowly rising prices.
And when we look for some overall indicators just for detached homes...
This is where we see (above) that despite some year to year turbulence as to the pace of home sales, we're seeing overall increases in sales prices all the way back to 2014. Some years (2015, 2016, 2017) have been larger increases than others (2018, 2019) but it has followed the same general trend.
So, what's next?
Well -- it would seem we are likely to see another strong month of home sales in August. After all, we saw an uptick (from 119 to 126) in July contracts, and over the past five months there have been 684 contracts signed, as compared to only 670 during the same months last year.
How, though, will those contracts come together with such limited inventory?
That is, of course, an excellent question! Inventory levels have fallen 22% over the past year. This means today's buyers are finding fewer and fewer options when looking for a home to buy at any given time. That said - a relatively consistent number of homes are selling - so a buyer might just have to be a bit more patient, and then be ready to jump quickly when the right house comes on the market.
And one last note about mortgages and financing...
In case you missed it, today's buyers are locking in below 4% on 30 year fixed rate mortgages! We went through 16 months with rates above 4%, and we have now been back below 4% over the past few months. Anyone who locked in at 4.25%, 4.5%, 4.75%, etc., still has a wonderful long-term fixed rate mortgage interest rate -- but 3.something? Wow!
I'll wrap it up there for now, with a few closing thoughts...
- If you have questions about the market that I don't regularly cover in these monthly reports, feel free to email me.
- If you're planning to sell your home this Fall, we should start chatting soon about timing, preparations for your house, pricing within the current market and more. Call (540-578-0102) or email me and we can set up a time to meet to chat.
- If you are planning to buy in the near future -- again -- be ready to be patient and then to ACT QUICKLY! :-) Make it a bit easier for yourself by knowing the market, knowing the process, knowing your buying power, and closely monitoring new listings!
Until next time, have wonderful remainder of your summer, and a great start to your school year if you or someone you know will be getting back to the classroom this month!
