Some good news in the local Richmond housing market

Henrico leads way as region home sales surge
Credit: TIMES-DISPATCH
Henrico County led the Richmond metro area in the boost in home sales.
By Carol Hazard TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERPublished: July 23, 2010

The housing market in the Richmond area has turned upward, with sales outpacing the nation and state, according to reports released yesterday.

The number of new and previously owned houses sold in Richmond and in Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico counties jumped 23 percent in the second quarter from the same period a year ago -- more than three times the state rate, according to a report by the Richmond Association of Realtors.

Henrico saw the sharpest rise, up 28 percent from a year ago.
Yet the median price -- with half the houses selling for more and half for less -- fell 4 percent during the quarter in the Richmond area to $199,630.

Federal tax credits for first-time and move-up buyers spurred sales, Karen Tilson Smith, president of the Richmond Association of Realtors, said during a media call.
But foreclosures and short sales pushed prices down, she said. "We still need to see consumer confidence where homeowners are willing to move up."

Statewide, sales of new and previously owned houses rose 6.4 percent in the second quarter from a year ago, according to a report by the Virginia Association of Realtors. The median price statewide was $235,000, up 2.2 percent.

It took on average 85 days to sell a house in Virginia, down 16.5 percent from a year ago, according the Virginia housing trends report.

Realtor Vinh Nguyen from Falls Church said the inventory in Northern Virginia was moving quickly. But Percy Montague IV, a Realtor from Charlottesville, characterized the market there as fragile during the media call. Carol F. Jones from Abingdon near Bristol said only about 30 percent of people applying for home mortgage loans were approved.

Nationally, sales of previously owned houses in June rose 9.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.37 million units from the same month a year ago, but sales fell 5.1 percent from the previous month, the National Association of Realtors said yesterday.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the national association, said federal tax credits provided a spring surge. "Only when jobs are created at a sufficient pace will home sales return to sustainable healthy levels," he said.

The national median price was $183,700, up 1 percent from a year ago. Distressed homes accounted for 32 percent of sales in June.

Meanwhile, mortgage rates fell yesterday to a new record low for the fourth time in five weeks.
The average rate on a 30-year loan was 4.56 percent, down from 4.57 last week, according to Freddie Mac. The rate on a 15-year loan was 4.03 percent, down from 4.06 last week and the lowest in records dating to 1991.

The housing market will remain bumpy, but the trend here and elsewhere is positive overall, said John McClain, a senior fellow at George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis.
"There is a slow and building momentum of growth," he said. "People aren't going to feel as good as we would like for the next few months, but the basic economic indicators are pretty good."