Although we had a huge uptick in contracts in June, we haven’t seen all of those properties close… yet. Many homes sold in July, as you’ll see in the charts and graphs below, but usually the process of going from “under contract” to “sold” takes about two to three months, depending on all the nitty gritty details that can be involved in the purchase of a home. That said, lets take a look at the Market Report for July 2011.

[click any image below to view larger version]

Sales dropped from June to July by 3.8%, but prices increased by 3.2% (average sales price) and 14.1% (median sales price)! This helped to increase the average price per square foot — or home value — by 1.2% from June to July. However, the year-to-date numbers show the bigger picture. So far this year compared to last, home values have dropped by 8.3%. Sales have dropped by 6%. Prices have dropped by about 7%.

Below is a chart that shows the number of properties sold in our area over the past seven months — or YTD 2011.

The good news is that sales only dropped by 3 from June to July, and the pattern of growth during spring and summer months is consistent with most other years. Considering there are still many contracts that have yet to close (AKA pending sales), the next couple months should show additional sales.

Speaking of contracts… the number of listings that went under contract from June to July dropped a whopping 19.2%, but YTD, contracts jumped by 17.13%! Of those listings under contract YTD, days on market increased by 11.73%, meaning they sat on the market longer this year than last.

Below is a chart showing month-by-month, the number of listings that went under contract so far in 2011.

July has been the third best month for contracts this year!

Again, we’re still waiting on some contracts from the massive June contract month to close, so there is hope for a positive sales figure in the future months. Overall, the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County real estate market is seeing some positive changes, but still wavering a bit in recovery mode.

… Stay tuned for more Market Trends here on Harrisonblog!