The Full Year 2009

• Statewide, existing home sales in Virginia were slightly higher than in 2008 --  86,609 units sold, up 1.6% (the first increase since 2005).
• Sales were up month-to-month over 2008 for the last five months of the year; in November 2009 it was 44% higher than November 2008.
• At the same time, the 2009 median sales price -- $240,809 -- was 4.2% lower than in 2008. 
• New home sales were down in every month compared to 2008, but, while the median sales price of those new homes also decreased year to year, in November that decrease was the lowest (only 1.4% off 2008, as opposed to April, which was down 13.6% over 2008).

Of course, statistics for different regions in the state will vary. In the South Central region, for example, sales were down 14.5% from 2008, but prices were up 1.5%; in the Upper Shenandoah Valley, it was the opposite: sales up 5.4%, prices down 15%.

Fourth Quarter Sales

• Despite that dip, though, statewide home sales were up more than 18 percent over Quarter 3 2008.
• In fact, quarterly sales showed double-digit growth for 18 of the 29 local Realtor^® associations, and only declined in five regions: Eastern Shore, Lexington/Buena Vista, Prince William, South Central, and Southern Piedmont. 
• In Southwest Virginia, Q4 sales were up 327.4% from 2008, and in Williamsburg they were up 121.3%. Keep in mind that there was a significant drop in sales in December, as the $8,000 tax credit was expected to expire, which may have skewed the Q4 numbers.

Fourth Quarter Prices

• The median home price was down 8.5% statewide from Q4 2008 to Q4 2009, but it varied considerably between regions.
• At the ends of the bell curve we have Chesapeake Bay & Rivers with a 23.8% decrease, and Prince William with a 24.1% increase, while Lynchburg and New River Valley saw virtually no change.

Foreclosures

• Statewide, foreclosures were up in Virginia by 33.8% in 2009 over 2008, but that's well below the nation as a whole, which saw them jump 55.3%.

• However, foreclosures were down 19.1% statewide from Q3 to Q4 2009 (they had gone up from Q2 to Q3, so that was a nice change).

Read the full Virginia Association of REALTORS home sales report...