2019 was a good year for home sales in Virginia. There was a total of 126,305 sales transactions, up 3.4% from 2018. The median sales price in 2019 was $295,000, which was 3.5% higher than the median sales price in 2018. The overall market was strong last year, but what homes were most in demand?

Cities or Suburbs?

There is disagreement about whether people are staying put in the cities or are flocking to the suburbs. In 2019, about 16% of all home sales in Virginia were in the state’s most urban cities: Arlington, Alexandria, Richmond, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach. About 60% of sales were in the suburbs of the state’s largest metro area (Northern Virginia, Richmond, and Hampton Roads). The remaining 24% of sales occurred in small metro areas or rural parts of the state. These shares remained virtually unchanged between 2018 and 2019.

Locations

Source: Virginia REALTORS^®, data accessed 2/17/2020

Urban, suburban, and rural classifications based on NCHS Urban-Rural Classification Scheme for Counties, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/urban_rural.htm#2013_Urban-Rural_Classification_Scheme_for_Counties

Price Range

Across the state, the median sales price in 2019 was $295,000. However, the greatest number of sales were in the $200,001 to $300,000 range (26% of all 2019 sales). About 20% of homes sold in 2019 for between $100,001 and $200,000, and about 18% sold for between $300,001 and $400,000.

In 2019, 2.3% of homes sold in Virginia closed at more than $1 million. According to recent data, about 3.6% of homes nationally are worth at least a million dollars, with significant concentrations of such high-end homes in California.

Sales Prices

Source: Virginia REALTORS^®, data accessed 1/16/2020

Bedrooms

Nationally, according to the National Association of Home Builders, the number of new single-family homes with 4 bedrooms or more declined in recent years, mirroring the downward trend in overall sizes of new homes. NAHB argues that more Millennials entering the market has driven the shift to smaller homes. In Virginia, homes with four or more bedrooms made up about 41% of all sales in 2019, and three-bedroom homes were the most common sales. In the Virginia market, the price difference between a three- and four-bedroom home was pretty dramatic; last year, a four-bedroom home sold for $137,000 more, on average, than a three-bedroom home.

Bedroom Count

Source: Virginia REALTORS^®, data accessed 2/17/2020

House Style

According to Google, “Farmhouse style” architecture was the number-one searched home trend in 2019. However, less than 1% of homes sold in Virginia in 2019 were classified as “Farmhouse.” One in five homes sold in 2019 was a “Colonial”, which was also a popular search category in 2019, according to Google. “Ranch” homes were about 16% of homes sold in 2019, while “Traditional”, “Two Story” and “Contemporary” rounded out the top five styles of homes sold.

House Style

Source: Virginia REALTORS^®, data accessed 2/17/2020

For more stats about Virginia’s housing market, check out our monthly home sales reports, or email me for more information.