Rappahannock County – Fauquier County – Madison County – Culpeper County
In aggregate, the overall market (Rappahannock, Fauquier, Culpeper, Madison) remains strong and the year over year growth that we reported at the end of the first quarter has continued. For the first quarter transaction and sales were up 15% and 11% respectively. The second quarter was even strong with transactions up 21% and sales up 33%. Year to date, transactions are up 18% over prior year and sales are up 25%.
Looking at each segment individually, residential transactions are up 17% and the average home price has increased by 5% ($17,099). Similarly, land sales are up 42% (though that is only 36 more sales) and the average price per acre has increased by 19%. Commercial transactions are flat for the year. While the general trends are interesting, it is important to remember that each market is quite small and a handful of sales can dramatically effect the overall averages.
Rappahannock Home Sales
13 residential properties sold in the second quarter of 2016 for a total of $4.3 million compared to 20 properties ($6.6 million) in the second quarter of 2015.
The attached chart shows cumulative sales for the year by price range. For the year to date, the dollar volume of sales is down 32% compared to the prior year. Continuing the trend from last year, the lower half of the market (under $500,000) continued to be down compared to prior year. The $500,000 – $1,000,000 market was relatively flat and while there were no sales over $1,000,000 this is not remarkable due to the small size of sales in this segment.
On average, homes are selling 5% below list price which is in line with what we saw last year. There are currently 128 homes for sales in Rappahannock County which is about a 1.5 year supply. The average list price is $633,616 with an average of 232 days on market.
Rappahannock Land Sales
Eight properties sold ($5.1 million) in the second quarter of 2016 as compared to 5 properties ($3.6 million) in the second quarter of 2015. The most notable was a 612 acre tract on FT Valley Road that closed at $3,901,928.
With only about 25 transactions annually, you will find that there is still quite a bit of variability in price per acre based on views, water features and location. There are currently 74 lots on the market, which is a three year supply. For the quarter, land sales were up compared to last year.
Of the 74 lots currently on the market, the average price/acre is $8,812. This obviously varies greatly based on the features of the lot as well as the size of the lot. In general, the smaller the lot, the higher average cost/acre (lots under 5 acres are asking over $39,000/acre) while large lots trend to the mean. The average listing price on lots over 25 acres is $7,670/acre.
Click Here to view a complete list of everything sold in January – June 2016. Please note: there was one commercial sale.
Review other Market Trends Reports: Fauquier County – Madison County – Culpeper County
Review the Q1 Market Trends Report for Rappahannock