RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The Richmond Association of Realtors announced Monday that the housing market is still showing high demand in the first quarter despite the pandemic.

The association said this is because of low inventory — aka not as many houses on the market.

Last week, Wayne Gauthier, President of the Richmond Association of Realtors, told 8News its a “seller’s market” because so few homes are for sale, making some listings competitive. For example, the median price homes are selling for is $50k more than four years ago.

The association said there were 3,545 active listings during the first quarter, 18 percent lower than this time last year.

“Although Q1 doesn’t reflect the current effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are seeing sales activity expand in the Central Virginia housing market. There were about 4,300 sales overall in the 1st quarter, nearly 289 more than last year, a 7 percent increase,” said Steve Overgard, President of CVR MLS.

Sales in the Richmond area are also increasing. Gauthier said there were 3,332 sales in the area, a 6 percent increase from last year.

“Most of the additional sales were in Hanover and Henrico Counties, with 17% and 10% more sales
respectively,” Gauthier said.

However, Gauthier said we can expect to see the effects of the coronavirus on the housing market in the second quarter.

“We are expecting to see more of the effects of Covid-19 in the second quarter of this year. The housing market will most likely slow down, however, our region continues to see such strong demand for housing that I expect for it to rebound quickly after the pandemic,” he said.

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