Strong start in 2017 for local real estate

Rappahannock County real estate agents were a whole lot busier in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the same time last year, with residential and land sales particularly strong.

“On a county by county [Rappahannock, Fauquier, Culpeper and Madison] basis, the results are mixed though generally strong, particularly in Rappahannock County,” reports Adam Beroza of Cheri Woodard Realty. “For the first quarter, Rappahannock had 75 percent more residential transactions while land transactions increased 140 percent.”

Comparably, Fauquier was down 11 percent in residential transactions this just-ended first quarter and up only 16 percent in land transactions. Culpeper was up 1 percent in residential and up 93 percent in land transactions. Madison was down 8 percent in residential but up a whopping 175 percent in land sales.

In Rappahannock County, 21 residential properties sold in the first quarter of 2017 compared to only 12 properties that sold during the same quarter last year.

“It is worth noting that we had our first sale over $1 million occur in January and there are two properties under contract that are listed for over $1 million,” says Beroza. “In all of 2016, there were only two sales over $1 million so 2017 is off to a good start in this price range.”

Recently there were 96 homes for sales in Rappahannock County, which is about a 16 month supply, he says. The average list price is $692,382 with an average of 297 days on market.

As for Rappahannock County land sales, 12 properties sold in the first quarter of 2017 as compared to 5 properties in the first quarter of 2016, reports Beroza, who is vice president of sales and marketing at Woodard’s Sperryville office.

There are currently 63 lots on the market, which is roughly a three-year supply, he says.

Beroza says to “keep in mind there is a lot of variability within each acreage segment. For lots over 25 acres, the average price per acre is $4,890 which is lower than historic norms. In general raw land in Rappahannock sells around $7,000 an acre, though views and the type of land can greatly affect the final sales price.”

All data was compiled from MRIS (Metropolitan Regional Information Systems), the largest multiple listing service in the United States.