If you’ve been keeping up with our newly revamped market reports, you will notice that Buyer Urgency — the number of homes that go under contract within just 30 days of the list date — has skyrocketed. This is because, previously, we were actually calculating the number of homes that were listed and then sold within just 30 days. Now that is a quick sale!

So, we’ve updated this stat to truly portray the number of homes that have less than 31 days between going on the market to going under contract. Over the past 12 months, this has occurred 358 times! Translation: buyers are acting quickly.

Over the past 12 months, there have been 1,906 homes on the market (up 1.0% from last month’s inventory), and 1,498 new listings (up 1.5% from last month). With the rate of new listings growing steadily, and the rapid rate at which listings are going under contract, inventory will likely drop a bit over the next few months, unless the amount of new listings in the spring market increases dramatically. (This has been known to happen!)

Buyers, if you are unsure about where you’d like to purchase, you can get a good idea of what it might cost you to move to any of these towns in our local area. Sellers, similarly, you can see what the average sales price is for your specific locale. Bridgewater’s average sales price over the past year is almost $225,000, and nearby Dayton’s is at just under $195,000. The most affordable town is Grottoes, with an average sales price at about $145,000.

Of course, each town boasts different amenities and conveniences, so if you’d like more information about the real estate market in any of these areas, check out the communities page on our website.

Single family homes comprise 76% of total residential sales in the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County real estate market, which is up 2.0% from last month’s rolling-12 month average. Duplex sales have increased by 2.2% compared to that same time frame, consisting of 17% of total residential sales. Townhomes aren’t as popular, with just 7% of total sales at a 5.2% drop from last month’s stat.

Single family (detached) homes have a median sales price of $195,000 in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County over the past year. Townhouse sales prices have dropped 1.2% to $135,250, and duplex prices have increased 0.6% to $216,250 over the same time frame.

Single family (detached) homes are by far the most popular property type in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, and most of them sell in the $151k – $250k price range, with lower than $150k as the second most popular price range. Single family home sales have increased by 10.3% over the past year. [Search single family homes for sale]

Duplexes are becoming much more popular in the local market, though, and it makes sense… they can have the same amount of square footage with a lot less yard maintenance, and are typically in a convenient location. Duplex sales have increased by 21.7% over the past 12 months, with most selling between $151k – $250k. [Search duplexes for sale]

Townhomes, on the other hand, have become less popular with total sales dropping by 4.1%. Not surprisingly, this property type is most common in the $0 – $150k price range. [Search townhomes for sale]

The majority of homes spend their lifetime on the local market without experiencing a price drop. These homes typically sell faster, with an average of 115 days on the market. For homes that do reduce their price, the average days on market is 269. As you can see in the chart above, this is true no matter what the price range is.

Moral of the story: price competitively from the beginning, and sell faster. It will save you time and money in the long run!

Home sellers in the City of Harrisonburg typically sell their homes without any price reductions. In fact, 65% of residential sales in this area occur with no price reductions. On the other end of the spectrum, Massanutten Resort has seen only 27 sales in the past 12 months without a price change, which consists of just 48% of the total sales there.

Every once in a while, a home will sell with a price higher than that of its final price tag. Sometimes we attribute this to improvements made during time on market (added value), sometimes furnishings conveyed that weren’t originally going to be provided… there are a number of factors involved in each and every real estate transaction — which is a great reason to use a Realtor®!

In Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, 87 homes sold over final asking price during the past year, which consists of 8.1% of total sales. This is up 4.8% from last month’s rolling-12 month total. We suspect that this number will continue to increase through the next few months, simply because the spring market is vibrant and active.

Through March, the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County real estate market has booked 186 sales, which is up from 158 at this same time in 2014. Average sales prices is trending upward, too, and sits at $203,756 for the first part of the year. This contributes to the rise in average price per square foot, now at $105.09 (up 2.8% from last year). Sellers are getting over 96% of their final asking price — fairly comparable to last year, and up only 0.4%. Finally, the giant leap in contracts (up 25%!) will surely create a huge increase in sales later this year.