Covington city, VA housing market

What this means

• Valuation. Prices are 88% above what local incomes have historically supported (this area's pre-2020 price-to-income ratio).
• Prices. Home values are up 9.6% over the past year (U.S.: +1.2%).
• Negotiating. Buyer leverage is low (24/100; U.S.: 54) (as of Apr 2019): homes sell for about 0.0% below their final list price.
• Affordability. A mortgage on the typical home takes 23% of the median household income (U.S.: 35%); it takes about $32k a year to keep the payment at 30% of gross pay. That includes about $1,445 a year for home insurance (U.S.: $1,790).
• Disaster risk. FEMA expects about $188 a year in natural-disaster damage per $100k of building value (U.S.: $155), mostly from flooding.