Harrisonburg Real Estate Market Report - February, 2014

Click here to download Market Update charts for February 2014.




Last month I began this report by saying it appeared the harsh winter had not dampened the local real estate market…it appears another month of harsh weather has made a liar out of me! February was another fairly slow month with 51 residential closings, and sales for the first two months of this year are running slightly behind last year (103 vs. 114). Interestingly, Buyer “activity” (phone calls, showing appointments, web traffic) has been strong throughout the past couple of months, particularly on the internet. Our company website, www.KlineMay.com has seen traffic in the past several weeks that equals or exceeds the traffic we saw during the busiest weeks of 2013.

Positive news we can see in February’s numbers includes the number of new contracts placed on properties (75) and the turnaround in the inventory numbers in both the City and County. The several month decline in homes for sale ended in Harrisonburg with inventory (we calculate the daily average for the month) rising from 164 to 171. In Rockingham County, the number of homes for sale rose from 351 to 362. We are hopeful this turnaround signals the beginning of a trend which, combined with increasing Buyer activity, will make for a balanced, healthy real estate market in 2014.

Average and median prices dropped slightly in February, but are still ahead of the numbers one year ago. As I have said before, we believe this pricing trend will continue, possibly at an increasing rate as the market heats up this year. The one and three year averages are:

Three year change:    Average Price down -5.22%, Median Price down -2.78%
One year change:       Average Price up +3.06%, Median Price even at 0.00%

All in all, not a spectacular start to the year, but not awful either…and the signs are indicating things are heating up!

Click here to view or download our Market Activity Charts for February 2014.

This original blog post can be found by clicking here.