Harrisonburg Real Estate Market Report - March, 2013

Click here to download Market Update charts for March 2013.




March brought more encouraging news for the 2013 Harrisonburg / Rockingham County real estate market. Short and long term sales trend are heading in the right direction and the continued low inventory is bringing down average Days on Market and the supply of homes relative to the pace of sales.

In March, 67 residential units sold in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, according to the Harrisonburg Rockingham Association of REALTORS Multiple Listing Service (HRAR MLS), the highest March total since 2008. Similarly, the first quarter of 2013 saw more homes sold than any first quarter since 2008, with 180 sales. These first quarter sales represent a 19% increase of the first quarter of 2012.

More encouraging than the closed transactions are the number of properties for sale on which buyers placed contracts during March. The total of 113 properties is the highest monthly total, in any month, since we began tracking this information in January, 2009. Included in this time period is April 2010, which was the deadline for buyers who wanted to take advantage of federal tax credits to have a ratified contract on a house . traditionally only the beginning of the busy season, this level of contract activity surpasses the best “contract months” of last year by 10% - 20%.

Home prices continue to be flat, flirting with apparent price increases when looking at short term numbers, but without enough of a long term trend to declare prices are on the rise. We do, however, feel prices will rise overall in 2013. The three and one year trends in sold prices as of the end of March are:

Three year change:    Average Price down -7.69%, Median Price down -5.41%
One year change:       Average Price down -0.67%, Median Price up +1.16%

Inventory has remained surprisingly flat, without the traditional springtime flood of new listings. With the buyer activity as high as it is now, we may have a new problem soon…not enough homes to sell!

Click here to view or download our Market Activity Charts for March 2013.

This original blog post can be found by clicking here.