Click here to download Market Update charts for April 2012.




The apparent real estate market recovery continued in the Harrisonburg area in April. Year to date in the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Association of REALTORS Multiple Listing Service (HRAR MLS), the sales are slightly ahead of last year, and contracts are up by better than 1/3 over last year indicating sales in May and June will exceed last year’s sales. Buyer activity continues to be strong, with leading indicators such as showings and website traffic continuing to increase as the year progresses.

Prices remained relatively stable, with slightly encouraging signs emerging. Although average sales price has fallen in the past 12 months, the decline was less than the 12 months of calendar year 2011, so it seems the rate of decline is slowing. This, combined with strong buyer activity should be encouraging news to Sellers and can provide some hope that a turnaround in pricing is not too far away. Current pricing trends as of the end of April, 2012 are:

Three year change:    Average Price down -13.86%, Median Price down -14.12%
One year change:       Average Price down -4.06%,   Median Price down -5.36%

Inventory rose in both the City and County during April, but inventory levels are still significantly below previous years, giving further hope the market is normalizing. While some experts predicted a flood of foreclosure properties as a result of the Foreclosure Settlement Act, we have not seen that in our area.

The most encouraging news about local real estate statistics as of April 30 is the volume of contracts in process. Through the first 4 months of 2012, 324 residential properties sold through the HRAR MLS. That same Multiple Listing Service currently has 252 properties under contract (as of May 15) as Buyers continue to take advantage of great interest rates and pricing!

Click here to view or download our Market Activity Charts for April 2012.

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