A nearly 20-year-old sales record in the City of Fredericksburg could be topped as buyers seemingly become more comfortable paying premium prices for downtown real estate.
There are currently two homes for sale in Fredericksburg that could eclipse the record-high sales price of $2.75 million in 2006: the homes at 1401 Washington Ave. (listed for $2.999 million) and 307 Amelia St. (listed for $3.695 million).
Two additional homes that could hit the market soon might also set a new mark: 1304 Washington Ave. (which sold for $2.75 million in 2006 and is the current record-holder) and Carl D. Silver’s former home at 1617 Franklin St. Listing prices have not yet been established for either of those two.
The fact that there could be four houses on the market that threaten a nearly 20-year-old sales record is indicative of the current state of the high-end downtown housing market.
There have been 77 home sales in Fredericksburg for $1 million or more since 2004, according to Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data. Nearly half of those sales have been since 2021, and a record 13 have been in 2024 to date. Almost all of the 77 have been downtown homes, and some properties on the list have topped $1 million more than once.
That trend helped push Fredericksburg’s median sales price in October to a record high of $615,000, according to data from the Fredericksburg Area Association of Realtors.
Although $1 million-plus sales have become more common in Fredericksburg, the $2 million mark remains rare. There have been just three home sales topping $2 million in Fredericksburg since 2004, and none since 2007 (in addition to 1304 Washington Ave., the other two $2 million-plus sales were 307 Amelia St. for $2.6 million in 2006 and 1201 William St. for $2.1 million in 2007).
Selling a home at the very top of the market takes a slightly different approach, said Suzy Stone of Lando Massey Real Estate. Stone is the listing agent for the home at 1401 Washington Ave.
“It really limits your buyer pool,” she said of premium-priced homes. “You have to start looking for buyers not just in Fredericksburg.”
For example, Stone has sent brochures to Northern Virginia agents who have sold higher-end homes, and she also was able to get the house at 1401 Washington featured in The Washington Post. She said some Northern Virginia prospective buyers are attracted to Fredericksburg’s small-town appeal, relatively lower prices and train connectivity.
Stone thinks there are psychological factors in play for potential buyers at the very top of the market — including a reluctance to pay more for a house than anyone has before. But she thinks once a few of the higher-priced homes are sold, some of that reluctance will fade.
“You just have to find the right buyer who really understands what a special property it is,” she said.
Bill Freehling covers local business for the Fredericksburg Free Press. He can be reached at: [email protected].
