January 2023 is now in the books!  As we start to move through 2023, experts are keeping a close eye on the real estate market!  I am also keeping a close eye on the real estate market as I truly believe that it is important for us to continue looking at all the trends (big and small) that impact our housing market here locally!  All real estate is local and Richmond is no different!

METRO RICHMOND AREA REPORT

So, first I like to look at the overall Richmond metro area!  This will give you an overall snapshot of the Richmond market and will include not only the city of Richmond and counties of Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover, but also many of the outlying areas, such as Powhatan, Goochland, etc.

What are some of the takeaways from the report?

• The average sales price in January 2023 was higher than the average sales price in January 2022 – but the price increase was only 2.9% higher – this is a much smaller increase year over year than we have seen in previous years!
• The number of new listings that came on the market in January 2023 was much smaller than the number of new listings that came on the market in January 2022!  In 2022, there were 1,143 new listings, but in January 2023 there were only 978 new listings!
• This is part of the reason why the number of homes available for buyers to look at was higher at the end of January 2023 than at the end of January 2022!  At the end of January 2023, there were 1,127 homes for buyers to look at, while at the end of January 2022 there were only 927 homes available for sale!
• However, we still continue to see homes going under contract at a good pace – in January 2022 only 966 homes went under contract, while in January 2023 there were 1,018 homes that went under contract!
• But, although more homes went under contract in January 2023 than the previous year, there were fewer homes that closed in January 2023 than closed in January 2022!  In January 2023 there were 693 homes that closed vs the 943 homes that closed in January 2022!
• One of the signs that the market is tending to normalize is the time it took for a home to go under contract – in January 2023 it took an average of 26 days for a seller to accept a contract, while in January 2022 it took 21 days.  This may not seem like a very long time, but it definitely shows a shift in the market!
• How many months of inventory is there?  In a balanced market, a 6 month supply of homes is normal.  In January 2023 there were .90 months of inventory – less than 1 month!!!  Although .90 is a very low figure, it is still a bit better than the .60 months of inventory that we have at the end of January 2022!
• Another thing to look at is how much was the sales price vs the asking price?  In January 2022 sellers, on average, were getting 102.4%; in January 2023, sellers got an average of 99.5% of their asking price!  Although this is not a big shift, it is another sign that the market is beginning to move towards a more normal market!
• Finally, let’s look at how many showings a seller is getting on their home.  In January 2022, sellers got an average of 10.2 showings per listing – this is because in January 2022 there was such a feeding frenzy whenever a new listing came on the market!  In January 2023, sellers got on average 9.6 showings per listing!  Again, still a large number of showings but it also shows that the urgency that was present a year ago has calmed down some!

CITY OF RICHMOND

Many of the same trends we see in the Metro Richmond market report, we see in the City of Richmond.  However, it should be noted that the average sales price of a home sold in the city of Richmond actually decreased by 4% in January 2023 compared to the average sales price in January 2022 – in 2023, the average sales price was $346,170 vs. $360,193 in January 2022!  At the end of January 2023, there were 212 homes available for sale (vs. 172 homes available for sale at the end of January 2022).  The number of homes that closed in January 2023 (120 homes) was significantly below the number of homes that closed at the end of January 2022 (235 homes)!  Sellers in the city of Richmond got 98.4% of their asking price in January 2023, vs. 100.3% of their asking price in January 2022!  Finally, the number of showings per listing dropped in January 2023 – from 12.5 in January 2022 to 9.7 in January 2023!

HENRICO COUNTY

Many of the trends we see in the Metro Richmond market report as well as in the City of Richmond market report, we see in the Henrico County market report.  For instance, in Henrico County, the average sales price of a home sold rose 8.4% over the average sales price of the home sold in January 2022 – some of this may be due to an increase in the number of new construction homes sold in 2023.  There were 269 homes listed for sale in January 2023 – compared to the 261 homes listed for sale in January 2022, which helped to increase the number of homes available for sale at the end of January 2023 was 263 homes (compared to the 208 homes available for sale at the end of January 2022).  But closings in January 2023 (245 homes) was down from the number of closings in January 2022 (277 homes).  As throughout the entire area, the number of days it took for a home to go under contract increased – in January 2023, it took an average of 22 days for a home to go under contract, while in January 2022 it took an average of 17 days for a home to go under contract!  And, as in the entire area, there is less than 1 month’s of inventory on the market in Henrico County!  Sellers in January 2023 got 99.6% of their average asking price – while in January 2022 sellers got an average of 101.9% of their asking price!   Finally, as in the rest of the area, on average, there were 10.7 showings per listing in January 2023 (vs. 17.5 showings per listing in January 2022)!

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY

Again, many of the same trends we are seeing in the Metro Richmond report are holding true for Chesterfield County as well.  In Chesterfield County, the average sales price also increased by 4% from the same time period the year before!  There were more new listings that came onto the market in January 2023 (388 new listings) than came on the market in January 2022 (360 new listings).  This helped to push up the number of homes available for sale at the end of January 2023 to 442 homes – compared to the number of homes available for sale at the end of January 2022 (338 homes for sale).  Although the number of homes that went under contract in January 2023 was 418, which was greater than the 389 homes that went under contract in January 2022, the number of homes that closed in January 2023 (256 homes closed) was much lower than the 384 homes that closed in January 2022!  As throughout the entire area, the average time on the market in January 2023 was 28 days, which was greater than the 17 days it took for a home to go under contract in January 2022.  And again, the months of inventory on the market at the end of January 2023 was less than 1 month!  Finally, in Chesterfield County in January 2023 showings per listing were down – 9.4 showings per listing in January 2023 vs. 16.4 showings per listing in January 2022!

As you can see, although all real estate is local, the trends in the Richmond area are the same!  Prices are going up, except in the City of Richmond!  But the increase is not as huge as it was the previous year!  The market is normalizing and cooling down from the frenzy we saw in the first half of 2022 – but the trends are small and you need to look at them all to see the shift of the market!  It is taking a little bit longer for homes to go under contract!  Closings are down, new listings are increasing and the months of available inventory are increasing!  Sellers are not getting as many showings as they were the year before at this time!

If you want to know what is happening in your neighborhood or your area, or you are thinking of buying  OR selling a home and want to know about the market, feel free to DM me and I would be happy to send you information on the market!  I am a full time Realtor, who has made knowing all about the Richmond real estate market my business.  I am YourRichmondHome Expert!