Harrisonburg Real Estate Market Report - October, 2013

Click here to download Market Update charts for October 2013.




Residential real estate sales in October, 2013 maintained this year’s trend of each month surpassing the sales total from that month in 2012, with 86 residential sales in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, as reported by the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service. October’s sales brought the year-to-date total to 864 homes, representing a 21% increase in sales over last year - and coincidentally is the exact number of homes sold in all of 2012! However, the number of buyers placing contracts on homes for sale in October dropped for the fourth consecutive month to 70 homes, reflecting a seasonal slowdown and pointing toward lower sales numbers through the balance of the year.

The market upswing has been felt fairly evenly through our area, with the City and all four quadrants of the County seeing increases of at least 10%. The only area not enjoying a market upswing this year is Massanutten. Although prices have risen there, sales are down by 7 homes, or 17%.

Speaking of prices, the average sales price for the homes sold in October was very low ($176,778) which pulled the 12 month average down a bit to $195,395. This decline in October is not due to the market dropping overall, but is attributable to the particular mix of homes sold in October. The one and three year trends in average and median sold prices are:

Three year change:    Average Price down -5.48%, Median Price down -1.96%
One year change:       Average Price down -1.03%, Median Price steady at +0.00%

The inventory trends are interesting, and show the City and County moving in opposite directions. Inventory in Harrisonburg has been declining since early summer, while the number of homes for sale in the County has been steadily increasing since early Spring. While this may indicate Sellers in the County are becoming more confident in the market and their ability to get the price they want for their home, inventory in both the City and County remains sharply down from recent years.

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

This original blog post can be found by clicking here.