Virginia’s real estate industry generated $67 billion in economic activity in 2016

Virginia's real estate industry generated $67 billion in economic activity in 2016, the second-largest generator of direct economic activity in the state, according to a new report commissioned by an industry group.

Virginia Realtors, the state’s largest real estate trade group, released the report’s findings Wednesday. To focus on the industry’s overall economic impact, it looked at not only housing, but also transactions across several private sectors.

“Real estate touches every aspect of our lives from home to work to play… In broad terms we define the real estate sector as including housing, offices, retail and other commercial buildings, and industrial buildings, including manufacturing and warehouse structures,” the report said. It did not include institutional buildings, such as courthouses and fire stations, the impact of which would be included in public spending.

In a 2016 study for the Virginia Housing Policy Advisory Council, the George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis estimated that the housing component of the real estate industry directly and indirectly boosted economic activity in Virginia by almost $48 billion for 2015. The new research updates and expands  the previous analysis by including commercial and industrial real estate and
related activities.

Some of the findings:

The overall $67 billion in total economic activity in 2016 increased
gross state product by more than $36 billion and labor income by over $20 billion,

The industry supports more than 445,000 jobs across the commonwealth,

The economic activities boosted tax revenues for state and local
jurisdictions by more than $2.2 billion.

                According to Virginia Realtors, the industry trailed only federal government spending of $94.6 billion in 2016, in terms of economic impact. In the private sector, the health-care service industry came in No. 3 with a $43.5 million impact in 2016 with retailing ranked No. 4, with $36.5 billion.