Chesterfield housing strong
By Greg Pearson

Though the cost of housing is rising and it's taking longer to sell a home, Chesterfield is still a good market for housing values.

According to Chesterfield County Demographer Bill Handley, for large metro areas, the Richmond metro ranks in the 44th percentile for the cost of housing and in the 83rd percentile in household income. Anything less than the 50th percentile is below the national average for housing costs while the 83rd percentile puts Richmond well above the national average in income.

"Even though housing costs have gone up twice as fast as income, housing here is still quite affordable," said Handley. "You get a good bang for your buck."

Last year in Chesterfield, the average resale home sold for $220,279. The average price of a new home was $331,790.

According to Residential Analyst Tom Tyler of Integra Realty Services, in the 12-month period ending March this year, new home sales in Chesterfield were up four percent, totaling 2,569, while Henrico County's sales were down four percent to 1,726.

But Chesterfield new home sales slowed in the first quarter of this year to 484, off 12 percent. Henrico's sales declined 18 percent to 365.

"Last year, we had little inventory [of homes to sell] and a lot of buyers," explained Pat Clark, vice president and managing broker of Long & Foster Realtors on Midlothian Turnpike. "Last year, homes were selling in 30-60 minutes. Now it's 30-60 days if the house is looking good and priced right. The supply and demand has swung the other way. It's a normal market."

Some new home builders are offering incentives to increase traffic. A good year like 2006 would be even better if it wasn't following a great year like 2005, added Clark.

"We had the second best July ever," exclaimed Vernon McClure, president of Main Street Homes. "It's a good market, like 2003 or 2004. And we're down to a fixed rate of 6.37 percent. That's a pretty good interest rate."