"New-Home Sales Plunge To 12-Year Low"

Such is the headline of a front page article in the December 29, 2007 issue of the Daily News Record, with excerpts such as . . .

"The housing market plunged deeper into despair last month, with sales of new homes plummeting to their lowest level in more than 12 years."

"It is the one sector of the economy that doesn't show any signs of life."

"It doesn't look like there is any resuscitation in store for housing over the next year..."

"Sales and home prices are in a free fall."

"The downturn is intensifying."

Some important things to remember when reading the article:

• The majority of the facts and figures supporting the article are in relation to new home sales, not all home sales.
• The story is about new homes nationally, not just here in Harrisonburg.

This doesn't mean that things are wonderful with the Harrisonburg real estate market, but the dramatic excerpts above could draw a DNR reader to conclusions about our local real estate market that simply aren't accurate. 

More reading on the Harrisonburg real estate market:

• An over-supplied high-end market in Harrisonburg
• Supply and demand by price range
• A strong fourth quarter (thus far)