As mortgage interest rates rise, many continue to wonder whether it will significantly slow down the amount of home buying activity we are seeing in our local market.
It's a reasonable thing to wonder about.
Here's a quick preview of how things went last month (June 2022) compared to the same month a year ago...
June 2021
Mortgage Interest Rate at Start of Month = 2.99%
Closed Home Sales in Harrisonburg & Rockingham County = 175
Contracts Signed = 143
June 2022
Mortgage Interest Rate at Start of Month = 5.09%
Closed Home Sales in Harrisonburg & Rockingham County = 168
Contracts Signed = 129
Conclusions
By the numbers... there were 4% fewer home sales this June compared to last June... and 10% fewer contracts.
So, maybe (?) things are slowing down, a bit? That said, in many months over the past few years home sales seem to be constrained by the number of sellers willing to sell, and not so much the number of buyers interested in buying.
Stay tuned for further updates as I take a fuller look at the market over the coming week.