’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%