Real Estate in Massanutten: We’re Special!
By Dave Cureton, Massanutten Realty
Dave Cureton has been a Massanutten resident since 2004 and a Virginia real estate licensee and Realtor® since 2001. Opinions expressed here are those of the author and not of the Massanutten Property Owners Association.
Welcome to the MPOA Website’s inaugural posting about Massanutten real estate. I’m fortunate to be one of a few Realtors® who help people buy and sell homes and building lots in the residential neighborhoods of Massanutten that compose MPOA. The Association asked me to launch what we hope will be a continuing series of postings about various aspects of real estate “on the mountain.”
Now…about Massanutten real estate being “special:” Obviously, a mountain resort community isn’t a typical subdivision, and not only because we have bears and ski slopes. Every one of our neighborhoods features a mix of primary residences, weekend getaways and vacation rental homes. But the variety runs much deeper, and not only in sizes, styles and settings. There are homes in Massanutten that were built as long ago as 1970 while homebuilding continues nearly half a century later.
Consider the Massanutten market emerging from the July 4th holiday: A 1981 cottage with just over 1,300 square feet was among 11 homes under contract, as was a nearly 4,000 square foot 4-bedroom 3.5-bath ranch with double garage. And among the 37 Massanutten homes sold so far this year was a 2-bedroom cottage ($162,000) within walking distance of a nearly 5,600 square foot custom log home on three lots ($510,000).
Yet Realtors® still occasionally get the question, “What’s a Massanutten home going for these days?”
These days a better question would be, “Why are there so few Massanutten homes for sale?” In the wake of the July 4th holiday there were only seven! Low inventory has been a challenge for some time in the Massanutten housing market, as it has for many markets around the country. Even so, it’s rare to have only seven homes listed for sale in all of Massanutten.
The story is very different for building lots. During the same time, our MLS showed 23 Massanutten lots listed for sale at a wide range of prices, from $9,900 to $69,900. And these lots vary in location and topography as much as in price. Two other lots were under contract. Five lots had sold since the start of the year. A total of 13 Massanutten lots sold in 2018.
Of course, any of these numbers can easily change not only from day to day, sometimes even hour to hour. But they should give you general picture of Massanutten’s real estate market.
Thanks for reading!
Copyright © 2019 Dave Cureton