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Virginia Real Estate: The Most Affordable Housing Market In 2024

At the beginning of 2024, real estate analysts expected that Virginia real estate or house prices, which had climbed throughout 2023, would continue to rise as the supply and demand discrepancy persisted. 

In 2023, there was a significant rise in supply, which contributed to lower prices. As of now, this remains the situation. Virginia housing trends reflect strong sales and rising prices, particularly in major cities and metropolitan areas. 

Even though this represents an imbalance caused by continually expanding demand and supply that isn’t keeping up, experts predicted that the brisk sales would moderate slightly as new development increased. 

Currently, Virginia is a sellers’ market. Demand considerably surpasses supply, and this appears to be the case for the foreseeable future, yet it remains one of the most inexpensive housing markets in 2024. We’ll go over more of the specific statistics below. 

Virginia Housing Market Trends  

To understand the Virginia real estate market, it’s crucial to stay current on trends like the average price and pace of rising property prices in Virginia. 

Rising interest rates make it more difficult for first-time house purchasers to purchase a home, influencing existing homeowners’ behavior and forcing sellers to be hesitant when establishing pricing. Let’s look at some important real estate trends in Virginia:

Note: The data provided are based on Redfin’s monthly housing data for May 2024.  

Median Home Price 

The median price of a home in Virginia in June 2024 was $472,800, according to Redfin’s monthly housing market data. This is a 6.5% rise since June 2023. 

In Virginia Beach, Virginia’s most populated city, the median price in June 2024 was $410,000, representing a 9.3% rise over the previous year. Richmond, the capital city, had median prices closer to the statewide median of $421,750, a 6.8% rise from June 2023.

The list price has a considerable impact on competitive market dynamics and seller dominance, with many homes selling above or below the advertised price depending on market conditions.  

Number of Homes Sold in June 2024  

On average, the number of homes sold fell 10.4% year on year, with 10,550 properties sold in June this year, compared to 11,768 in June last year. 

Housing sales in Virginia are declining, owing to reasons such as rising loan rates and rising housing prices. Though this indicates an increase in inventories over the year, supply is still not keeping up with demand.

It’s also worth noting that national sales often peak in the spring and summer and fall off in the winter. In fact, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) anticipates that sales activity will grow by up to 34% in February and March alone, while prices will rise 3%. 

Median Days on Market (DOM)  

Days on market (DOM) is a metric that measures the average amount of time a residence is on the market before going under contract. 

A lower DOM indicates a very competitive seller’s market, putting more pressure on buyers to make larger offers and eliminate contingencies. A larger DOM indicates a buyer’s market, which means sales are slower and sellers have less leverage.

Virginia’s median DOM in June 2024 was 21 days, up two from June 2023. The average DOM in the United States is 32, thus homes in Virginia sell rapidly.   

New Supply Statistics  

In May 2024, Virginia had two months of supply, which is less than the 4-5 months that experts normally recommend for a healthy housing market. This figure also indicates that Virginia favors sellers over buyers..  

Property Tax Rate  

According to Rocket Mortgage, Virginia’s average property tax rate is 0.87%. In comparison to the other states, this falls roughly in the middle. 

However, keep in mind that this statistic represents the average of a large number of data points in a populous state with significant geographic and economic variety. Tax rates are likely to vary depending on a home’s valuation and location within the state.   

Foreclosure Rate in Q1 of 2024  

According to ATTOM data from the first quarter of 2024, one in every 2,578 residences in Virginia had a foreclosure filing. This is neither exceptionally high nor exceptionally low.  

Conclusion

As previously stated, several sources analyzed Virginia’s rising home market in 2023 and expected that prices will continue to grow, according to housing market projections 2024 Virginia. 

This has been true over the past year, albeit steadying interest rates and the prospect of increasing supply in the housing market, as evidenced by an increase in sales, may imply a slowing trend in prices.

However, it is critical to monitor home price declines, as this can have serious consequences for buyers, sellers, and the overall housing market. Sustained decreases in property prices may suggest broader market issues and harm purchasers’ affordability.