<div id="subtitle">But decline in Va. home sales not as severe as some parts of U.S., says analyst</div><div><p>The past year was rocky for residential real estate across the nation and in much of Virginia. <p>Still, Virginia fared better than many other states, he said. Prices in the state were basically flat, and though home sales fell, the drop was not as dramatic as in other parts of the country, said John McClain, a senior fellow at George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis, in a media conference call Monday. </p> <p>"The Virginia economy and housing market continue to perform reasonably well relative to the national story," McClain said. </p> <p>Sales of homes in Virginia fell 13.6 percent last year from 2007 to the lowest total in more than a decade. </p> <p>The statewide median price, with half the houses selling for more and half for less, was $244,493, down 1.2 percent. </p> <p>Nationally, sales of previously owned homes fell more than 13 percent in 2008 from a year earlier, the lowest total since 1997, according to a report released yesterday from the National Association of Realtors. </p> <p>The nationwide median sales price was $175,400, down 15.3 percent from $207,000 a year earlier. </p> <p>Although unemployment claims nationwide are rising and consumer confidence is bad, Virginia, unlike the nation, continues to add jobs, McClain said. </p> <p>These factors help keep housing more afloat than in other states, he said. </p> <p>The state added a net 13,100 jobs in 2008, based on data through November, he said. Also, unemployment in Virginia was nearly 2 percentage points below the national average in November, he said. </p> <p>The national unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent in December, but the state figures for December have not been released. </p> <p>Virginia has not escaped the rising wave of foreclosures. But the state fared better than the nation, with 1.5 percent of all homes in Virginia facing foreclosure last year, compared with 1.8 percent nationwide, according to the housing report. </p> <p>The greatest concentration of foreclosures — 80 percent — was in Northern Virginia, McClain said. </p> <p>"There are also problems in the metro areas of Richmond, Virginia Beach and Winchester, but the rest of the state is experiencing very minimal foreclosure issues, with only a handful in the other metropolitan areas," according to the 2008 housing report. </p> <p>Fewer homes were sold in the Richmond area last year than any year in the past decade, according to a report by the Virginia Association of Realtors. In all, 9,287 houses were sold in the area, lower than the 9,526 for all of 1998 and 22.8 percent fewer than in 2007. The average price fell 14.3 percent in the fourth quarter to $250,181 from the same period a year ago — also below where it was in 2005. </p> <p>But Bill White, the president of Joyner Fine Properties, said in the conference call that prices in the Richmond area have stabilized and that interest in home buying has picked up. </p> <p>"We have seen a great increase in activity since the first of the year," White said. "People out there are looking." </p> <p>His observations were echoed by Realtors from other areas of the state who participated in the conference call. </p> <p>Contact Carol Hazard at (804) 775-8023 or chazard@timesdispatch.com. </p></p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=41283391&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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