With the third quarter of 2013 under our belt, we’ve got some more real estate statistics to report for Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Residential sales, sales prices, average price per square foot, contracts, and days on market continue to trend positively! Take a look at the details below:

Although sales declined from August to September of this year (by 28.2%), we typically see this drop during the fall months. Spring and summer generally give the strongest growth for each year, so we’re not surprised by this negative number. However, looking at the big picture, we see that compared to last year at this time, sales have increased by 21.8%, with 777 total homes sold in 2013! Sales prices have also risen by about 2%, and average price per square foot is up by 1.7%. The amount of time homes sit on the market continues, too, to be about a month less than last year, which is great news for sellers. To top it all off, sellers are getting almost 96% of their final asking price.

Above, you can see how sales have trended over the past 12 months. This gives a nice visual to the dip in sales during fall and winter, and the increase in spring and summer, as mentioned above. We’re confident that 2013 will finish strong!

The chart above lays out how median sales prices have fared versus median list prices over the past 12 months, with the average sold/list percentage rising to its highest point for the past year. Prices are steadily rising, and sellers are getting more “bang for their buck!”

Again, monthly numbers are down in terms of contracts written, but year-to-date, we see that contracts are still higher than last year at this time by 16.7%, with 879 total contracts written (compared to 753 last year). Prices for contracts written are higher as well, and the days on market for these homes is also down by about a month. Homes are selling faster and for more money than we’ve seen in the past few years, which shows that our local real estate market is returning to a healthy state.

Finally, a quick look at sales versus contracts for the past year above shows us that both continue on a steady pace. And as we mentioned above, we believe that this year will finish strong. We look forward to seeing how the final quarter of 2013 fares!

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