Rappahannock County – Fauquier County – Madison County – Culpeper County
I
n the Heart of the Piedmont (Rappahannock, Fauquier, Madison and Culpeper Counties), 2016 was the best real estate market in the last eight years. With increased sales of homes, land and commercial property, the number of transactions were up 9% and dollar sales were up 10% as compared to 2015.
Madison County had the largest growth in the number of residential transactions (up 22%) although total sales were up only 10%. This is a function of more lower priced properties selling. Fauquier and Culpeper Counties were up 8% and 7% respectively in the number of transactions with a corresponding growth in total dollar sales. Rappahannock actually had fewer residential transactions than the prior year, but total dollar sales were up 6%.
In aggregate, raw land transactions were also up for the year. Rappahannock and Fauquier were up 74% and 41% respectively. Madison was flat for the year while Culpeper was down 6%.
Rappahannock Home Sales
Rappahannock is a small market with about 70 residential properties changing hands each year. In 2016, 77 properties sold which is down from 83 in 2015.
The first three quarters of 2016 were slow but robust sales in the 4th quarter made up for the lackluster activity early in the year. As a result, there was a 6% increase in dollar sales in Rappahannock County.
The bulk of the market is in the middle ranges of $250,000 – $1,000,000. The average property sold increased to $436,330 in 2016. Much of this increase is due to the sale of two properties in the $1,000,000 plus category. Last year, the average price was only $380,879, which was fairly consistent with the previous 2 years.
The chart below shows cumulative number of transactions and dollars sales for the year by price range.
As you can see, the majority of the growth came in the upper end of the market. This segment has been slower than normal in the past 2 years. On average, homes are selling at 11% below list price
There are currently only 91 homes for sales in Rappahannock County, which is about a 15-month supply. The average list price is $653,393 with an average of 302 days on market.
Rappahannock Land Sales
33 properties sold in 2016 as compared to 19 properties in 2015. Virtually every segment of the land market was up this year especially lots between 25 – 50 acres. There were two sales of lots over 100 acres. The most notable was the 600 acre plus farm on the FT Valley Road that sold for $3,900,000. Last year, there was only one sale of that size.
There are currently 65 lots on the market, which is roughly a three year supply.
Click Here to view a complete list of everything sold in 2016.
Review other Market Trends Reports: Fauquier County – Madison County – Culpeper County
Review the Q3 Market Trends Report for Rappahannock