Compared to last year at this time, sales are up 19.2%, average sales price is up 2.4%, and median sales price is up 6.1%! This is all very good news. As long as we see this trend continue, 2013 should prove to be a successful year for the local real estate market. See these stats and more below:

You can also see in the chart above that average price/square foot has decreased by 2.3% compared to last year, but we’re still confident that this will turn around as we move through the year. Another positive is that homes are sitting on the market for much less time than in 2012! (And that isn’t even counting the busy spring and summer months!)

Continuing to look at sales versus sales prices, in the chart above, you’ll notice that sales prices seem to have recovered from the low point and we hope to see this number continue rising — even if just slightly — in the months to come. We also expect to see the number of sales increase as we’ve seen a large rise in contracts over the past couple of months!

Speaking of contracts, compared to 2012, the Harrisonburg real estate market has seen an increase in buyer activity by 22.5%! As a reminder, we don’t see every single contract turn into a sale, but most do, and this is a sign of great things to come. Homes that have gone under contract this year are also sitting on the market for less time, so this trend should continue as they turn into sales.

WOW!! March 2013 was the highest contract producing month since 2010 (and probably longer)! It is obviously the best March for contracts in the past few years, and we’re excited to see most of these turn into sales in the next few months!

Sellers will appreciate the chart above because it shows the average days on market for homes sold over the past several years. We haven’t seen this low of DOM since about August 2011!

Finally, take a look at the number of sales versus contracts over the past 12 months. We love seeing the contracts line rise above the sales bar, and March gives a large jump in contracts. This bodes well for the future of the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County real estate markets!

Overall, we are happy with this month’s report and look forward to what next month will bring. Spring is always a busy real estate season, and 2013 is no exception!

Stay tuned for more Market Trends, right here on Harrisonblog…