Richmond’s Real Estate
Investors Report

What moved in September

Each card shows the latest number, the change from the month before, and the change from a year before. The line shows the last 13 months. Fall is usually slower than spring, so some of the month-to-month drop is normal for the season. Tap a card for the details.

Fewer homes sold and fewer went under contract; prices held

Months of supply = how long it would take to sell every home listed at this month’s pace. The “vs” columns show the earlier number and the change. *Why September 2019: it was the last September before the pandemic, when record-low rates and very few listings upended the market, so it’s the closest thing to “normal” to compare against. The MLS doesn’t publish that month’s report online anymore, so those figures are our calculation, worked back from the year-over-year changes in its September 2020 report. Not shown on small screens.

By locality, September 2026

Changes are against September 2025. Condos and townhomes, Core: 212 sold, median $369,475 (up 2.4%), 35 days to sell, 3.1 months of supply.

U.S. context: existing-home sales ran at a 3.99 million yearly pace in September, down 2.2% from a year ago; the national median price was $417,500, up 1.3%. Investors and second-home buyers made up 20% of purchases, and cash buyers 27% (National Association of REALTORS®).

PriceDesk tip: When contracts slow, every week a flip sits costs you. Sending every contractor the same written scope makes their bids quick to compare side by side. Try 3 properties free

Mortgage rates climbed to their highest since November 2023

• Applications
  Mortgage applications to buy a home fell 7% in the week ending Oct 16 and were 18% below a year earlier. Refinance applications were 59% below a year earlier.
• The Fed
  Most Fed officials expect one more quarter-point increase this year, according to their September projections. Next meeting: October 27–28.
• DSCR loans
  DSCR loans are approved on the property’s rent, not your personal income. There’s no official public index for their rates, so we won’t print a number we can’t trace to a lender. Starting next issue: quotes from Richmond DSCR lenders on the same sample loan.

A typical home costs 4.7 years of household income, up from 3.7 in 2019

Home values have risen faster than incomes since 2019, and the payment share has roughly doubled because rates are also higher. Census income for 2025 isn’t out yet, so “now” uses 2024 income.

Single-family rents rose 3.1%; apartment rents barely moved

There’s no free public rent index just for duplexes to fourplexes; single-family is the closest match. By locality, all rental types (Zillow, vs a year ago): Richmond City $1,604 (+2.7%), Henrico $1,773 (+2.0%), Chesterfield $1,839 (+2.7%), Hanover $2,126 (+1.6%).

Vacancy

• Apartments
  7.2% of apartments sat empty in September, up from 6.6% a year earlier and well above 2017–2019 (4.7–4.9% each September), though a little below September 2024 (7.4%). (Apartment List)
• All rentals
  The Census rental vacancy rate, which includes houses, was 7.0% in the first quarter and 6.2% in the second, against about 5% on average in 2025 (our calculation from the four 2025 quarters). The survey is small at the metro level (margin of error about ±5 points), so read it as a direction.

PriceDesk tip: Turning a rental between tenants? Walk it once, talk through what needs fixing room by room, and send every contractor the same list. Try 3 properties free

Builders permitted more apartments and fewer houses this year

Monthly apartment permits jump around because one large building can add hundreds of units in a single month. U.S. context: national housing starts fell 5.2% in September to a 1.22 million yearly pace (Census).

Eviction filings rose in Richmond City; the city plans to restart tax sales

Eviction filings

Filings are cases landlords file in court, not completed evictions. Year-to-date changes are our calculation from the monthly court counts.

Tax sales and foreclosures

• Tax sales
  Richmond City is relaunching its real estate tax sale program, paused since January 2023, with a target restart in November and the first annual sale expected by June 2027. As of August 31, 7,626 delinquent accounts (about $5.4 million) had passed the two-year mark that makes them eligible, and 85 properties were under review by the City Attorney’s Office. Condemned or blighted properties can qualify after one year. Another $5.7 million becomes eligible on December 31, 2026. (City of Richmond memo, Sept 28; rva.gov/taxsales)
• Foreclosures
  Virginia had 736 foreclosure filings in August, 1 for every 5,006 homes: 12.8% fewer than July, 13.2% more than a year earlier, and below the national rate of 1 in 3,569. First half of 2026: 3,741 filings, up 18.5%. (ATTOM)
• Short sales
  Distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales) were 2% of all U.S. home sales in September (NAR). Local numbers aren’t published anywhere free yet.
• Coming next
  A monthly count of foreclosure (trustee) sale notices in the Richmond area, taken from Virginia’s public legal notices.

PriceDesk tip: Distressed houses tend to need the longest repair lists. Talking through the walkthrough room by room helps keep items from being left off the bids. Try 3 properties free

Material prices jumped, led by copper and lumber

These are prices manufacturers and suppliers charge, not store shelf prices or labor, but they show where costs are heading.

PriceDesk tip: When material prices move, itemized bids show where the money goes. PriceDesk scopes list quantities split by trade, so every contractor prices the same items. Try 3 properties free

Richmond had fewer jobs than a year ago; unemployment stayed low

Who’s moving: 13.0% of Greater Richmond residents moved in the past year, compared with 11.8% nationally; in 2019 it was 14.8% (Census, 2024 and 2019; percentages are our calculation from Census counts).

Richmond will ask again for the power to cap rent increases

• Rent cap
  Richmond’s draft wish list for the 2027 General Assembly again asks the state to let cities cap yearly rent increases at 3%. This year’s bills (SB355/HB278) stalled; the Senate version was carried over to the 2027 session, and the Virginia Housing Commission studied the idea over the summer. As written, buildings less than 10 years old would be exempt.
• Tax relief
  The city also wants a state constitutional change so it can cut property taxes for longtime, lower-income owners (called LOOP). The earliest voters could approve it is 2028.
• Zoning
  Draft 3 of Richmond’s zoning rewrite (Code Refresh) drops automatic duplexes in single-family areas and allows one extra unit (ADU) per lot, with size and height limits. No council vote date was set as of mid-September.
• Chesterfield
  Nunnally Village at Hull Street and Otterdale Road, up to 1,000 homes plus retail around a planned HCA hospital, was scheduled for a Planning Commission vote on October 20. Supervisors decide later.
• Projects
  Henrico’s supervisors took up 224 apartments at 1921–1925 Westmoreland Street in Westwood. In the city, Virginia Union University is seeking approval for a 100-unit apartment building, and RRHA closed a deal for a $37 million rehab turning 400 E. Grace Street into 68 senior apartments, with work expected to start in mid-2027.

The last time rates jumped, sales fell hard but prices didn’t

From 2021 to 2023, the 30-year rate went from about 3% to about 7%. Core Richmond’s September sales fell from 1,385 to 825, down 40%. The median price still rose 17%, from $335,000 to about $392,000. Listings stayed scarce (1.4 months of supply in September 2023), and prices kept climbing.

This year’s jump is smaller (about 6.0% to 7.4%), and there are more homes for sale: 2.1 months of supply now.

An observation from past MLS and Freddie Mac data, not a prediction or advice.

Where Richmond investors meet in November

• Tue Nov 10
  RPOA General Membership Meeting, noon, Weinstein JCC, 5403 Monument Ave. Landlords and property managers.
• Wed Nov 11
  RING, 6:30 pm, The Great American Ranch, Midlothian. Flippers and landlords. First visit free.
• Tue Nov 17
  RPOA Think Tank, noon, Grapevine, 11055 Three Chopt Rd.
• Monthly
  GRID Richmond, free. Check their Meetup page for the date.

Know a regular investor meetup?If you run or attend a recurring real estate investor event in the Richmond area, email the name, day, time and place to hello@pricedeskhq.com and we’ll add it here.

1. Core Richmond sales and localities: Central Virginia Regional MLS, published by the Richmond Association of REALTORS® (housing reports): September 2026 (current as of Oct 10) and earlier monthly reports. Monthly figures are as first published; the MLS revises recent months.
2. Prices, listings and price cuts, Greater Richmond: Zillow Home Value Index (data from Zillow), September 2026; Realtor.com Research, September 2026; Redfin Data Center (Redfin, a national real estate brokerage), monthly updated Oct 7 and weekly updated Oct 13, 2026; FHFA House Price Index, 2nd quarter 2026.
3. Rents and vacancy: Zillow Observed Rent Index (single-family, multifamily and all homes; data from Zillow), September 2026; Apartment List rent estimates, rent growth and vacancy index, September 2026; Census Housing Vacancy Survey, metro tables, 2025–2026.
4. Mortgage rates: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, Oct 15, 2026, and weekly history since 1971. Applications: Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey, Oct 21, 2026. 10-year Treasury: U.S. Treasury daily par yield curve, Oct 20, 2026. Fed: FOMC statement and Summary of Economic Projections, Sept 16, 2026.
5. Building permits: U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, metro and county files, July and August 2026. U.S. housing starts: Census, Oct 20, 2026.
6. Income and moving: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year, 2024 and 2019 (tables B19013, B07003).
7. Materials, jobs, unemployment and inflation: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (producer price index, CPI, local area unemployment, metro employment).
8. Distress: eviction filings from court records compiled by the Legal Services Corporation Civil Court Data Initiative, through September 2026; City of Richmond, tax sale program and CAO memo, Sept 28, 2026; ATTOM, August 2026 state report and 2026 midyear report. U.S. sales and distressed share: National Association of REALTORS®, Oct 13, 2026.
9. Local news: VPM, WTVR, 12 On Your Side and Richmond BizSense, September–October 2026.