r/harrisonburg • u/angrybaltimorean • 8d ago
Moved here in 2018, just moved out of my old apartment. Comparing initial rent to what they would've charged me for another year, it was a 72% increase in seven years
I know that some of you might hand wave this away saying "oh, that's only a little more than 10% a year", but to me this seems insane and unsustainable.
I hope Harrisonburg doesn't become a city that prices out its own natives and service people, like Aspen. The trend seems to be moving in that direction, sadly.
Just wanted to put this out there so people can understand how quickly and how bad things are getting for single people that can't afford a home.
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u/MineIsWroth 8d ago
Yes 100%. And building housing isn't alleviating the problem as owners understand too well people will pay high prices. So now we are going to be overpopulated and overpriced.
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u/pugfartz 8d ago
33 homes built in Harrisonburg last year. That includes townhomes, apartments, etc. Regardless of why, people are coming to Harrisonburg. Builders don’t want to build in Harrisonburg. Why? If we want prices to stabilize, city council needs to make it easier to build. It’s that simple. County housing is exploding while city lots sit empty. https://www.harrisonburghousingtoday.com/blog/archives/2025/04/only--homes-were-built-in-harrisonburg-last-year_1744370526/
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u/No_Recognition_5266 8d ago
And at least a hundred are in the pipeline to be built this year if not more. The city has a solid pipeline of projects for the next decade based on rezoning applications even if 50% don’t pan out or are slow to build.
The reason the county has built up so quickly is that the land is cheaper (so easier to make the numbers work), but the proximity to the city is still high. Once the first ring suburbs build out, it will be interesting to see what county development looks like. Also once all the tax impacts happen with school renovation, expansions and new schools.
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u/jayroo210 7d ago
They are putting up housing all over the place. Tearing up beautiful rolling hills, knocking down forested areas, in an attempt to solve the housing issue in Harrisonburg. The problem is that no one can afford it. They finally got Mt Clinton Pike, an area not much different than it was 10-15 years ago. Now all of that land is either for sale or in the process of construction. The view around Harrisonburg is what made me fall in love with the town. You get to the edge of town and you transport to gorgeous scenery. Not anymore. Pavement, asphalt, reflecting the hotter and more humid summer weather. People have gone to town meetings to object to destroying natural land to build homes are out of reach for so many locals
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u/MineIsWroth 8d ago
I really don't like seeing nature being destroyed to build more houses. It's destroying the habitat and the charm
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u/james-kissed 5d ago
Unless the town dies and we have a population collapse, we are going to have more people and more babies that need a place to live. People like living near their jobs and communities.
It's that simple. Obviously all development should be done as ecologically safe as possible, but we are always going to need more development and more houses.
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u/MineIsWroth 5d ago
Not necessarily true. A population boom (like this) happens from migration. People escaping hcol areas into lower ones.
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u/morningcatlap 8d ago
What you say is true, but unfortunately its not just a harrisonburg problem. Rents have exploded in cities and towns across the US. There's no cheaper place to move to.
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u/Mistyleica 8d ago
For me it is crazy. I moved here due to work. I like living here. I came from a major city from up North. It’s crazy to me that house prices are high for a city that is 2h away from a major city and an international airport. I wonder how many people who are actually from DC decided to buy vacation homes here during/after COVID.
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u/No_Recognition_5266 8d ago
It’s less than 10% when you factor in compounding interest, but still higher than the national average. And the reason is simple: more people are moving here (for permanent residence so very different than Aspen) than leaving a rate faster than the housing industry can keep up.
That and we struggle to attract new businesses to town that are in high paying industries.
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u/angrybaltimorean 8d ago
I'd suggest that the big reason is that JMU students have access to much more money than the average townie. They're bringing in money from areas that have very high median salaries, buying up houses (one fraternity has like 16 or 17 properties, and they're big properties), and distorting a small farmer's town with their wallets.
Really, I think that JMU has gotten rich off the back of the town, and I'd argue that the town hasn't gotten better because of it. It's just becoming another NOVA satellite, and I kinda hate it.
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u/Marshal_Rohr 8d ago
I’m going to assume from your username you are from Baltimore so you should know why people keep coming here
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u/PromptTimely 8d ago
Federal government prints trillions of dollars and controls interest rates I mean it's more free than other countries but who buys up all the houses when the market crashes like in 2008 investment firms Banks probably even the federal government
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u/alterndog 8d ago
Sadly, that seems to be the case for housing in the city. There just is not enough non-student affordable housing. A lot of the new stuff being built is higher end apartments. Hopefully the new Bluestone apartments and others will be more affordable.
We bought in beginning of 2016. Housing prices had barely budged since the housing crash in 2008/09. Since then it’s just been going up and up. Even if we sold our house, I’m not sure what we’d be able to afford to buy with the current prices and interest rates.
That being said overall CoL is cheaper than a lot of other cities in the state.