Realty prices ‘edge forward’

Published 12:38 pm Wednesday, October 18, 2017

The median housing price across the state has risen 6.9 percent since Aug. 2014 — from $261,950 — according to a press release from the Virginia Realtors Association.

“We’ve had a robust market in the Farmville area and I myself have experienced several multi-offer situations this year, which is something we don’t normally see ina our market,” said realtor Jason Meeks, president of South Central Association of Realtors. “But I’ve been involved in multi-offer situations five different times this year, so when you’ve got buyers competing for the same property, you know, that is always a driving force. Due to that demand, we are seeing prices edge forward.”

Meeks said that the Farmville area “feels like it’s kind of turning a corner” with multiple new businesses coming to town.

“I think overall Lunenburg rural property is showing an increase, I think the in town properties are still struggling,” said Lunenburg Realtor Sidney Smyth Sr.

He said small towns are still struggling.

“The outside, in the county, you know, where you got land and everything, that seems to be showing a nice increase since 2014,” Smyth said.

He said in Lunenburg it’s still a buyers market.

Sid Smyth

“Stuff is selling, but it’s gotta be priced right,” Smyth said. “Price is still everything. If you price it right you can get some activity, if it’s not priced right it just sits there, which is indicative of all the real estate signs that are starting to rust in county.

The release also cited that the median price in August declined 5.1 percent from July’s $295,000, which is typical of seasonality.

“Illustrating continued buyer motivation, the average number of days on the market was 3.3 percent lower than at the same time last year — 58 days, versus 60 in August 2016,” officials said in the release. “Month-over-month, average time from list to close lengthened by 13.7 percent, in keeping with historical seasonal trends.”

According to the release, year-to-date volume of sales for the period January through August rose 8.9 percent over the same period in 2016.

“Demand has continued to outpace supply, keeping prices elevated and days on the market relatively low,” officials said in the release.