RICHMOND, Virginia – While the pandemic has made it harder for people to buy a home in the Richmond area, real estate experts said the market has been improving over the past six months and it is now time to start looking .
Christine Mottley, real estate agent at One South Realty Group, said the market is still a sellers’ market, but now is a much better time to buy because rates are low and there is less competition.
“I’d say lock up now. You know the inventory, we don’t see it slowing anytime soon,” Mottley said.
Mottley added that homes are now selling about 1% above asking price, compared to the 3% the market had seen earlier in the pandemic.
Mottley said Richmond is seeing more homes in the market now than it did in the spring, with millennials being the largest group looking to buy.
“Believe it or not, it might be cheaper to buy a house, so it depends on your situation,” Mottley said. “If you’re only in the area for a short time, you might want to rent, but I can tell you the rental prices are definitely up a lot now.”
Construction times for newly built homes can still be delayed as contractors still face labor shortages and supply problems.
Mottley said most of the homes that are somewhat affordable, less than $ 400,000, are townhouses and condos. Single-family homes under $ 400,000 are almost non-existent or in remote areas, in their opinion.
But when you’re debating whether to rent or buy a home, or even looking for a single family home in the $ 250,000 or less range, Mottley said that with rental prices soaring, it might be better to buy.
Mottley believes the market will not change materially over the next six months. “Foreclosures are unlikely to increase because home equity has increased so much,” Mottley said.
The Richmond Metro is one of the fastest growing regions in the country. In the past 18 months it has grown about three times as fast as normal.