Foxfire Realty Releases 3-Year Market Study

FOXFIRE REALTY 3-YEAR MARKET REPORT
SALES BY MLS DISTRICT, PER TYPE, PER YEAR TOTAL SOLD VOLUME AVERAGE SALE PRICE NUMBER OF SOLD LISTINGS NUMBER OF NEW LISTINGS TOTAL NEW LISTINGS VOLUME AVERAGE NEW LISTING PRICE AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET
GREENBRIER VALLEY AREA*
Residential
2016 $108,306,417 $160,453 675 1240 $277,495,248 $223,786 206
2015 $105,685,249 $174,686 605 741 $157,662,867 $212,770 207
2014 $109,887,775 $170,104 646 709 $128,031,557 $180,580 216
Commercial
2016 $2,309,800 $164,985 14 42 $12,442,295 $296,245 250
2015 $1,172,300 $78,153 15 24 $4,602,643 $191,776 288
2014 $3,410,400 $213,150 16 22 $6,965,000 $316,590 168
BECKLEY AREA*
Residential
2016 $98,895,543 $130,814 756 1652 $107,448,604 $65,042 195
2015 $96,538,608 $132,608 728 1218 $104,439,118 $85,746 193
2014 $91,910,105 $130,554 704 893 $98,715,483 $110,544 181
Commercial
2016 $2,854,507 $356,813 8 60 $2,675,500 $44,592 226
2015 $3,669,900 $215,876 17 39 $4,568,800 $117,149 242
2014 $5,880,500 $245,021 24 40 $7,703,800 $192,595 316
NEW RIVER VALLEY AREA*
Residential
2016 $413,201,138 $175,680 2352 3268 $612,439,023 $187,404 115
2015 $384,560,467 $183,912 2091 2392 $447,629,004 $187,135 113
2014 $311,663,249 $172,571 1806 1905 $361,847,407 $189,946 139
Commercial
2016 $6,673,125 $208,535 32 91 $37,439,290 $411,420 193
2015 $8,695,900 $414,090 21 54 $17,988,650 $333,123 182
2014 $3,142,000 $149,619 21 19 $4,032,700 $212,247 276
PRINCETON – BLUEFIELD AREA*
Residential
2016 $64,173,650 $102,350 627 1174 $70,518,026 $60,066 210
2015 $64,387,900 $111,398 578 995 $69,457,646 $69,807 190
2014 $57,590,905 $98,111 587 706 $62,519,466 $88,554 190
Commercial
2016 $4,017,900 $174,691 23 68 $4,703,400 $69,168
2015 $1,608,400 $114,886 14 62 $1,905,000 $30,726
2014 $2,163,500 $113,868 19 35 $2,746,500 $78,471
CHARLESTON – KANAWHA VALLEY AREA*
Residential
2016 $468,910,501 $148,672 3157 6297 $1,089,607,692 $173,036 83
2015 $439,666,731 $148,186 2967 6239 $1,065,596,244 $170,796 87
2014 $395,376,857 $150,792 2626 5872 $1,039,637,600 $177,050 86
Commercial
2016 $9,651,000 $178,722 54 235 $82,601,560 $351,496 156
2015 $10,430,050 $289,724 39 243 $95,267,178 $392,046 183
2014 $8,342,900 $208,573 41 260 $106,076,620 $407,987 115
HUNTINGTON AREA*
Residential
2016 $226,661,916 $138,546 1636 3155 $497,472,977 $157,678 154
2015 $215,915,163 $138,942 1554 3124 $467,643,199 $149,694 156
2014 $198,039,315 $138,489 1430 3034 $449,023,537 $147,997 155
Commercial
2016 $14,835,050 $423,859 34 169 $78,841,140 $463,771 314
2015 $10,166,200 $254,155 39 198 $79,641,374 $400,208 323
2014 $7,086,757 $221,461 31 144 $50,524,550 $348,445 397
COMBINED MARKET TOTALS*
Residential
2016 $1,380,149,165 $142,753 9203 16786 $2,654,981,570 $144,502 161
2015 $1,306,754,118 $148,289 8523 14709 $2,312,428,078 $145,991 158
2014 $1,164,468,206 $143,437 7799 13119 $2,139,775,050 $149,112 161
Commercial
2016 $40,341,382 $251,268 165 665 $218,703,185 $272,782 228
2015 $35,742,750 $227,814 145 620 $203,973,645 $244,171 244
2014 $30,026,057 $191,949 152 520 $178,049,170 $259,389 254
*Based on information from the Greenbrier Valley Board of REALTORS® MLS, Beckley Board of REALTORS® MLS, Kanawha Valley Board of REALTORS® MLS, Mercer-Tazewell County Board of REALTORS® MLS, Huntington Board of Realtors,  and the New River Valley Association of Realtors for the periods shown above.

NEWS RELEASE:

Three years of strong commercial and residential real estate performance reflect increasing consumer and business confidence across West Virginia and southwest Virginia, according to a comprehensive, three-year market analysis completed by Foxfire Realty.

Commercial real estate sales volume prices at the end of 2016 were up 34 percent over similar sales in 2014, according to the study. Residential real estate sales volume prices increased 18 percent over the same period. About 10,000 properties of all types were sold across the region in 2016, an increase of eight percent over 2015.

Residential sold real estate in 2016 increased almost $216 million over 2014, ending the year at $1,380,149,165. Commercial sold real estate in 2016 increased $10,315,325 over 2014, ending the year at $40,341,382.

“I think people are always surprised to see real estate quoted as a billion dollar industry,” said Richard Grist, owner and broker of Foxfire Realty in Lewisburg.

“We believe the steady growth in commercial and residential real estate sales over the three years is a significant indicator that our market weathered the challenges of the past decade and is positioned for stable, sensible growth into 2017.” Foxfire specializes in, farms, country estates, recreational land and timberland investment properties.

Grist created the Foxfire Market Report to explore real estate market performance trends. He believes the report is the first to incorporate the two-state region and the first to analyze extensive MLS data. He said the full report will be made public.

The report analyzes three years of information from six major real estate MLS databases in the region. The report breaks out commercial and residential real estate performance from 2014 through the end of 2016 and includes the Greenbrier Valley, the Beckley area, the Charleston-Kanawha Valley, the Mercer-Tazewell region, the Huntington region and the New River Valley.

“The real estate market is an exceptional barometer of how people are feeling about the economy,” said Grist. “Understood across the entire market, when we see performance like this over three years, I think we can be confident the region is building a strong and stable foundation. And, that’s good news for businesses and home buyers and sellers.”

Grist said increasing consumer confidence has brought buyers to the markets who have been sitting on the sidelines.

Among the report’s headlines:

  • The number of residential homes sold increased steadily in all MLS areas, indicating a strong demand for home purchases. Days on the market decreased in all but the Beckley and Bluefield-Princeton areas, which were among the hardest hit as coal and natural gas production in the area turned down during the study period.
  • Prices of sold homes were relatively flat across the three years and listing prices were steady.
  • Commercial real estate was a market driver across the six-MLS analysis with increases in total sold volume prices in most areas. Huntington, Princeton-Bluefield and the New River Valley reported the strongest volume price increases over the three years.
  • Homes in the Charleston-Kanawha Valley region sold quickest at about 85 days on the market. Homes in other regions take 115-210 days. The average is 161 for residential and 228 for commercial.

Grist pointed out that an MLS database analysis is not a perfect reflection of the market because some residential and commercial properties never make it into an MLS; they trade privately. However, he added, three years of data provide credible trend lines.

Although timberland transactions are not specifically tracked in the various MLS data, Foxfire Realty specializes in woodlands and the timber industry. Grist believes that U.S. log and lumber exports in 2017 could be the strongest since 2005, a factor that can have significant positive economic impact in West Virginia and southwest Virginia.

Hardwood mills are increasing production, he said, and owners are upgrading mills with new equipment to lower costs and boost yields. U.S. lumber production is pacing an eight-year high and hardwood log exports were up five percent through the end of 2016. Eight hundred million board feet of U.S. hardwood lumber was exported to China, accounting for 52 percent of the 1.66 billion board feet total U.S. hardwood lumber exports in 2016.

“We feel good about the direction of the 2017 commercial and residential real estate market,” said Grist. “With our data analysis in hand, we have the statistics to justify our optimism.”

In 2017, Foxfire intends to analyze monthly the commercial and residential real estate data across the market, looking for trends and early signals of market shifts.

The second annual report will be released in January 2018.