Clarke County, VA Real Estate Market Review - 2017

The Clarke County, VA real estate market is very much an island. The 2017 real estate market review makes this even more obvious when you look at the Clarke County market compared to the immediate neighbors in Frederick, Warren, and Loudoun County, VA and Jefferson County, WV. Each of those markets showed a good progression forward, where Clarke County bounced around like it has for the past five years.

Clarke County, VA Real Estate Market: The positive numbers are window dressing, but that's OK.

The two most positive numbers are made up of numbers that can both show market health, and in one case, can add little to no insight into the local market. The number of days on the market is the lowest in five years. The 2017 number of days on the market was 91. The next closest was 110 in 2015. The problem with using days on the market as a positive or negative indicator is that there are too many factors that influence that number.

A home may be overpriced. It may be in a less desirable neighborhood or area. A home may be in poor condition, or it may be hard to show. Any of these factors, or any combination of these factors, may keep a home on the market for longer than necessary.

There is one positive number that is good news, but it's not a huge difference from the past five years. That is the number of distressed properties. There were 14 distressed properties in the Clarke County market in 2017. The number is down, but 2015 had less with 12. The highest number over the past five years was 2013 with 30, but the numbers have bounced around. In 2014 there were 24, 2015 had 12, 2016 had 22, and 2017 had 14. The numbers are so erratic, it would be hard to make a case for good or poor health.

Clarke County, VA Real Estate Market: The average sales price

Average sales price is typically a good indicator of market health. Here again, it would be hard to pin a determination of good or poor health on this market because it is all over the map. The 2017 average sales price was 388,966. That was down from 2016 with $391,217. It was even further down from 2015 which was $434,873.

The two years prior to 2015 also showed the same up and down pattern that the following three years showed. In 2014 the average sales price was $329,227 and 2013 was $347,757. Up and down and back again.

A buyer in the Clarke County, VA real estate market needs to understand that Clarke County is a different animal. Berryville, which is the county seat, is a small town with a huge desire to stay a small community. It took years to get a Food Lion grocery store on the edge of town. As of this report, there are still no fast food chains allowed in Berryville. When you leave the county seat and travel south on Rt 340 to Waterloo, you will see a Sheetz convenience store. Across the street is a Shell gas station with a convenience store, and a McDonald's completes the third corner. That's it.

Beyond that, you can stop at a number of mom and pop stores and businesses throughout Clarke County, VA.  So, for the real estate market to be on it's on trajectory is no surprise at all. I seriously doubt that it will ever change. That's what makes it the quaint and quiet community that people love.

When you're ready to buy or sell in Clarke County, VA, give Cornerstone Business Group, Inc., a call. We are your local real estate sales pros in the area.

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This post was originally posted at www.winchestervarealestate.com:  Clarke County, VA Real Estate Market Review - 2017 #mikecoopersellshomes, #cornerstonehomesales, #yourlocalrealestatesalespros, #clarkecountyvarealestatesales.