By Shirleen Guerra | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Richmond remains among the nation’s most competitive housing markets, even as home prices have declined and homes are taking longer to sell compared with last year.
National housing analyses continue to show the Richmond metro is a competitive market, driven by buyer demand and how quickly homes move once they are listed. While the pace of the market has slowed from recent highs, local and regional data show Richmond remains more competitive than many nearby areas.
According to Redfin, the median home sale price in Richmond was $395,000 in November, down 10.3% from the same month last year. Homes sold after an average of 24 days on the market, compared with 17 days a year earlier. The number of homes sold was relatively flat compared with last year.
Despite the slowdown, Redfin continues to classify Richmond as a “very competitive” housing market, with a competitiveness score of 80. About 30.2% of homes sold above their list price in November, and homes sold at an average of 100% of asking price, meaning buyers were still meeting sellers’ prices.
Nearby markets show a different pace.
In Glen Allen, the housing market was classified as “somewhat competitive.” The median home price was $411,364, down 2.3% year over year. Homes took an average of 42 days to sell, compared with 24 days in the city of Richmond, though the number of homes sold increased compared with last year.
In Chester, Redfin also classified the market as “somewhat competitive,” with a competitiveness score of 65. The median home price was $380,000, down 0.39% from last year. Homes spent an average of 26 days on the market, slightly longer than Richmond but faster than Glen Allen.
Those comparisons show that while nearby communities remain active, Richmond continues to move faster and draw more competition than surrounding markets.
Demand from outside the region also remains part of the picture. Redfin migration data shows Washington, D.C., was the largest source of inbound home searches to the Richmond area, followed by New York and Los Angeles. During the period measured, more people searched for homes in the Richmond metro than local residents searched for homes elsewhere.