Brick’s Blog

    So what’s hot and what’s not in the Richmond Real Estate Market? Actually, the pain is distributed fairly evenly. Most areas are experiencing sales decline in aggregate 34 % range for the composite area. The East End (Zones 42 and 40), old Mechanicsville (Zone 44), and the Southeast City (Zone 50) are experiencing some of the worst declines. Showing the most resilency are some surprisng areas like Central Henrico (Zone 32) and two of the “new suburbia” areas - Zone 54 in southwest Chesterfield and Zone 34 in northwest Henrico. The popularity for these areas can probably be attributable to the significant rehabiliation occuring in Zone 32 and the new construction available in Zone 54 and Zone 34.  Here’s what the various Real Estate Zones reveal in a June ’08 versus June ’07 and Year to Date ‘08 versus Year to Date ‘07.

Sales by Real Estate Zones for June 2008 vs 2007
		2008		2007		% Change
Zone		# of sales		# of sales
10		56		75		-25.33%
20		30		53		-43.40%
22		104		161		-35.40%
24		20		35		-42.86%
30		32		43		-25.58%
32		33		52		-36.54%
34		94		137		-31.39%
36		44		67		-34.33%
40		19		53		-64.15%
42		22		57		-61.40%
44		45		94		-52.13%
50		16		33		-51.52%
52		82		123		-33.33%
54		118		133		-11.28%
60		41		57		-28.07%
62		124		169		-26.63%
64		37		61		-39.34%
66		22		38		-42.11%
		939		1441		-34.84%
Sales by Real Estate Zones YTD 2008 vs 2007
		2008		2007		% Change
Zone		# of sales		# of sales
10		259		400		-35.25%
20		138		219		-36.99%
22		412		650		-36.62%
24		98		145		-32.41%
30		136		208		-34.62%
32		176		230		-23.48%
34		411		575		-28.52%
36		186		282		-34.04%
40		139		251		-44.62%
42		143		293		-51.19%
44		220		369		-40.38%
50		109		201		-45.77%
52		396		606		-34.65%
54		545		760		-28.29%
60		218		317		-31.23%
62		499		736		-32.20%
64		178		263		-32.32%
66		131		194		-32.47%
		4394		6699		-34.41%

   ’08 sales in the Greater Richmond area continue to trail ‘07 sales by approximately 34 %. As I have mentioned previously, I continue to believe this significant decline will not continue through the year and will moderate to a decline of about 25 % as we progress through the second half of the year. Richmond continues to be battered not by local conditions but by national issues. While a recent headline in Richmond Times-Dispatch screamed that foreclosures were up over 200 %, it was based on numbers provided by Realty Trac. My feelings about Realty Trac have been expressed before, so I will not bore you with a rehash. There is no question that foreclosure are up in the Richmond area. A quick glance at the legal section of the Times-Dispatch will quickly confirm this, but I continue to believe the percentage number provided by Realty Trac is grossly overstated.   

    I’ll post additional statistics later this week, but here is the YTD breakdown for price ranges and activity for ‘08 sales versus ‘07 sales. Please remember these figures are based on Richmond’s suburban areas and compiled using the Real Estate Zones of 10, 20, 22, 24, 30, 32, 34, 36, 40, 42, 44, 50, 52, 54, 60, 62, 64, and 66.

June YTD		2008				2007
Price Range		# of Sales		% of Ttl Sales		# of Sales		% of Ttl Sales
0 - 99,999		195		4.44%		303		4.52%
100,000 - 199,999		1219		27.74%		1970		29.41%
200,000 - 299,999		1554		35.37%		2250		33.59%
300,000 - 399,999		690		15.70%		1070		15.97%
400,000 - 499,999		334		7.60%		521		7.78%
500,000 - 599,999		158		3.60%		226		3.37%
600,000 - 699,999		89		2.03%		142		2.11%
700,000 - 799,999		56		1.27%		79		1.18%
800,000 - 899,999		37		0.84%		50		0.75%
900,000 - 999,999		11		0.25%		34		0.51%
1 Million plus		51		1.16%		54		0.81%
Total Sales/Pct.		4394		100.00%		6699		100.00%

     OMG, did Richmonders awake in June and discover they weren’t all losing their jobs? Did the warmer weather and longer daylight hours distract Richmonders from watching/reading the “doom and gloom” on the housing market from the national media? I’ll have more to say in subsequent posts, but June showed some strong numbers - inventory level down slightly, shorter marketing periods, stable dollar per square foot costs, stable Sales Price/List Price ratio, etc. I am not dancing a jig yet, but June certainly exhibited some encouraging signs. It will be a few days on subsequent posts, I have a relocating buyer for the next few days. Wait a minute, Brick, you mean local employers are actually bringing people to Richmond? Like I said, some encouraging events are happening. Stay tuned. 

 

 

For the 25 single family homes sold in

Fan & Museum District of the City of Richmond

(Fox and John B. Cary School Districts)

Average Sales Price in June    $ 430,959

Median Sales Price ……………  $ 358,000

Sales Price/List Price Ratio …….. 96.3 %

Days on Market …………………….. 50

Average Size 3 bedrooms 2.5 baths of 2,255 sq ft

Average $ per square foot ……….$ 191.11

 

For the 30 homes sold in West End of the City of Richmond

(Zips 23221, 23226 and 23230)

Average Sales Price in June    $ 411,066

Median Price ……………………. $ 303,500

Sales Price/List Price Ratio ……. 97.5 %

Days on Market ……………………. 46

Average Size 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths of 2,029 sq ft

Average $ per square foot……..   $ 202.60

 

For the 104 single family homes sold in West End of Henrico County

(Zips 23226, 23229, 23233, 23238)

Average Sales Price in June    $ 389,019

Median Sales Price ……………  $ 302,500

Sales Price/List Price Ratio ……….  97.2 %

Days on Market …………………….    38

Average Size 4 bedrooms 2.5 baths of 2,500 sq ft

Average $ per square foot ………. $ 155.61

 

For the 126 single family homes sold in Chesterfield

(Zips 23831, 23832, 23834, 23836, and 23838)

Average Sales Price for June   $ 295,517

Median Sales Price ………….$ 271,000

Sales Price/List Price Ratio ……..  97.2 %

Average Days on Market……………. 61

Average Size 4 bedroom, 2.5 baths of 2,468 square ft

Average $ per square foot ………..$ 119.74

 

For the 86 single family homes sold in Glen Allen

(Zips 23059 and 23060)

Average Sales Price for June     $ 372,612

Median Sales Price………………  $ 318,750

Sales Price/List Price Ratio ………  96.4 %

Average Days on Market ………….   66

Average Size 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths of 2,554 sq ft

Average $ per square foot……… $ 145.89

 

For the 67 single family homes sold in Mechanicsville

(Zips 23111 and 23116)

Average Sales Price for June   $ 297,848

Median Price ……………………   $ 275,000

Sales Price/List Price Ratio ……… 97.3 %

Average Days on Market ………….. 68

Average Size 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths 2,231 sq ft

Average $ per square foot ……….. $ 133.50

 

For 130 single family homes sold in Midlothian

(Zips 23112, 23113, and 23114)

Average Sales Price for June   $ 338,469

Median Price …………………….. $ 276,000

Sales Price List Price Ratio …….    97.7 %

Average Days on Market …………..  68

Average Size 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths of 2,617 sq ft

Average $ per square foot……….. $ 129.33