Richmond VA July 2022 Real Estate Activity!
One of the questions I get asked all the time is "Is the real estate market in Richmond shifting?" As a full time Realtor in the Richmond area, part of what I need to do is to know what is happening in this market and how that activity impacts my clients real estate decisions. So each month I like to take a look at the real estate activity because that will give a good idea of just what is happening in our market!
So for the month of July 2022, here is the real estate activity for Richmond City, Henrico and Chesterfield Counties.
As you can see above, all 3 areas had a decrease in the number of homes sold - almost 400 less homes sold in July 2022 than in July 2021! However, given that the number of homes that sold in July 2022 was well below that of a year ago, prices still saw major increases in appreciation - Henrico County saw almost a 10% price appreciation year over year, Chesterfield County saw almost a 15% price appreciation year over year and City of Richmond saw almost a 13% price appreciation year over year! For sellers this is great news!
Part of the reason for the high appreciation rate in each of these areas is because inventory levels are still very tight. As you can see, in each area, the months of inventory is 1 month or less - that means that, if nothing else came on the market, it would take less than 1 month for all the homes on the market to sell!
And if you look at the sales price as a percentage of the seller's asking price, sellers are still getting above what they are asking, on average. But I think that you can see that this is changing ever so slightly - for instance in Henrico County, in July 2021 sellers were getting an average of 104.7% of their asking price while in July 2022 sellers in Henrico were only getting an average of 104%. It still shows that there are multiple offers on most houses and that sellers are still getting what they are asking or higher, but this slight shift indicates a market that is starting to moderate.
Average time on the market is still very very tight. We are starting to see in some areas where it is taking slightly longer for a house to go under contract. However, that shift is very very small, so buyers still need to move quickly if there is a house that they want to make an offer on.
As the real estate market begins to shift we will see some changes - these changes may happen very gradually, so it is important to keep up with the activity in the market. Currently, we are still in a strong seller's market, but there are small cracks happening in some pockets of the area! Sellers need to keep in mind that the market of 6 months ago is not the market of today - so pricing the house right to begin with is most important! Making sure the house shows in good condition is important! Professional marketing is more important than ever! And buyers need to keep in mind that they will still be potentially competing against other buyers for the same house - a strong offer with a strong pre approval and as few contingencies as possible are still key to getting the house! Buyers may need to reconsider what they are looking for in a house and look for a house that has good bones, in a good area that may need nothing more than a facelift.
If you are thinking of buying a house in this market, feel free to contact me and let me know how I can help!