Home sales slowed in 2023 and in final month of year

Home sales in Virginia dropped 20% last year, compared with 2022, and were the lowest the market had seen since 2014, according to new data released Tuesday by Virginia Realtors.

Across Virginia, 98,464 homes sold in 2023, which is 24,780 fewer than the number of sales in 2022.

Nine out of every 10 counties and cities in the state had fewer sales last year than the year before, reflecting a widespread cooldown. And though there were fewer sales, Virginia’s median home price climbed nearly every month of the year.

The median sales price for all of 2023 was $390,000, an increase of $25,000, or about 4%, from 2022’s median sales price. Sale prices rose 11 out of 12 months in 2023, and price growth accelerated in the second half of the year, according to the report. The median sales price has climbed every year since 2019, when it was $295,685.

In December 2023, there were 6,929 home sales in Virginia, and the median sales price was $382,725, a jump of 6.6%, or about $24,000, over December 2022. Most December 2023 sales were between $200,000 and $400,000 — about 42.6% — and a quarter of sales were between $400,000 and $600,000. Another 10.4% were sold for more than $800,000, and about 11.4% sold for less than $200,000.

Pending sales dropped in the final month of the year, down 2.1% from December 2022. There were also 3% fewer listings than in December 2022. But there were about 1% more active listings on the market, the first year-over-year increase in active listings in Virginia’s housing market in nine months.