© 2024
Virginia's Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

New RC Poll: Housing Prices Are Moving Upwards in Virginia

Roanoke College Institute for Policy and Opinion Research

Home prices are on the rise in Virginia, according to a new poll from Roanoke College.

It’s that old story of supply and demand — supply of housing is down, and so demand is up. Alice Kassens was part of the team at Roanoke College that conducted a new survey released this week that shows demand for housing in Virginia is outstripping supply.

“We see that there are more people who want to buy homes than there are homes available, and that’s putting upward pressure on these homes. So if you’re a seller, it’s great because you can negotiate for a pretty high price because people on the market looking to buy a home don’t have that many choices.”

Hamilton Lombard at the University of Virginia Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service says part of the story here is a kind of hangover from the recession.

“When you had the recession, home construction collapsed and a lot of people lost their jobs. And so I think a lot of people have been wary of going back into it after getting burned the first time. So you don’t have a lot of supply. You don’t have a lot of people building homes.”

The Roanoke College poll shows the median list price in Virginia right now is $289,000. That’s up about $20,000 from last year, an indication of where the market might be heading going into springtime, when more people are likely to buy real estate.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Michael Pope is an author and journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria.