Where do I find real market data for Southwest Virginia?
Start with Virginia REALTORS, which posts monthly home sales and median sales prices by county and city, and the Virginia Tax assessment/sales ratio study, which covers every county and city. Virginia Cooperative Extension's 2023 study covers agricultural land sales, and recorded deeds sit in each circuit court clerk's office. No public source publishes time-to-sell figures for land in Carroll, Grayson, Wythe, Pulaski, Montgomery, Floyd or Galax.
Ask who published a figure, and for which counties, before trusting it
Every market number that reaches a landowner in Carroll, Grayson, Wythe, Pulaski, Montgomery, Floyd or Galax can be tested with two questions: who published it, and which counties does it actually describe? Run them first on the statewide one, the Virginia REALTORS monthly home sales report.
Who published it: Virginia REALTORS, which says its numbers are preliminary, based on current entries into multiple listing services, may be adjusted slightly over time, and are deemed reliable but not guaranteed. The newest edition on September 13, 2026 was the July 2026 Virginia Home Sales Report, posted August 20, 2026, on data accessed August 15.
Which counties: the report covers Virginia as a whole and eight regional markets, with trends in home sales, prices, inventory and months of supply. It shows county and city home sales change and median day counts only as map figures, so no county value appears in its text and none can be quoted. Neither of the association's descriptions says it covers land or farm sales. How a day count is kept in the first place is explained in what days-on-market means.
| Publisher | What it covers | Where it falls short here |
|---|---|---|
| Virginia REALTORS | Monthly home sales and median sales prices, statewide, by region, and by county and city | Home sales only; local day counts are map images |
| Southwest Virginia Association of REALTORS | Quarterly housing market reports | Reports name Washington, Smyth and Russell counties |
| Virginia Department of Taxation | Annual assessment/sales ratio study for every county and city | Measures assessments against sales, not asking prices |
| Virginia Cooperative Extension | Agricultural land sales in Virginia, 2023 | Past conditions only; locality data may be incomplete |
| Circuit court clerk | Recorded deeds; a deed conveying realty sold states the consideration | One deed at a time; access terms vary by clerk |
The Virginia REALTORS county files count home sales, month by month since 2016
The monthly report is not the whole of what Virginia REALTORS posts. It says additional local housing market data are available, and its data page is where the county detail lives.
Two downloads matter for this footprint: home sales by county and city, monthly, from 2016 to the present, and median sales prices by county and city on the same monthly basis. The association says the data are available for download and updated monthly. Virginia REALTORS is at 10231 Telegraph Road, Glen Allen.
Read them for what they are. They cover home sales. A month with few sales in a small county can move a median sharply, and a file built from home sales says little about a wooded tract or a pasture. Treat any seasonal pattern someone has drawn from them with the same caution.
SWVAR reports on three counties, while its MLS reaches much farther
The Southwest Virginia Association of REALTORS posts quarterly SWVAR Housing Market Reports, through the 2nd quarter of 2026 at this writing. It states that the regions included are Washington, Smyth and Russell counties. None of the six counties or Galax is named.
That is easy to misread as SWVAR having nothing to do with this area. Its MLS quick reference defines a much wider service area, including Wythe, Grayson and Carroll counties and the City of Galax, and requires all required listings in that area to be placed in Navica. The market reports and the MLS simply cover different ground. SWVAR's office is at 128 Reedy Creek Rd, Abingdon.
The New River Valley Association of REALTORS, at 125 Ponderosa Drive, Christiansburg, states that it serves Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski, Tazewell and Wythe counties and the cities of Galax and Radford. The two areas overlap, and no source read says which MLS a particular listing sits in. Sold records inside an MLS are a members' system, reached through a licensee. The rules that differ county to county are laid out on the six-county map of jurisdictions.
The assessment/sales ratio study sets assessed values against actual sale prices
A second source comes from the tax department, not a trade association. Citing Va. Code 58.1-207, the Virginia Department of Taxation says it conducts an annual real estate assessment/sales ratio study covering every county and city, and the 2025 study was the newest posted as of September 13, 2026.
It estimates each locality's ratio by comparing assessed values to the selling prices of bona fide real property sales, and the 2025 ratios come from a statistical sample of fair market sales in tax year 2025. Its Table 1 gives, for every county and city, the median assessment/sales ratio, the coefficient of dispersion, the total fair market value of real estate, the number of sales in the sample and the latest year of reassessment.
Go to the table itself for a locality's row. A parcel's own assessed value comes from the commissioner of the revenue or assessor. What Virginia Tax says a high or a low ratio may indicate, and how to use the study to test a particular price, belong to how to know if your land is overpriced.
Extension's 2023 farmland sales study, read alongside its own warnings
For farm and timber ground, the closest public source is Virginia Cooperative Extension's report "Agricultural Land Sales in Virginia, 2023", published March 25, 2025.
It looks at market-based, arms-length agricultural land transactions at the county, district and statewide level, analyzing both how many sales there were and what they sold for. It defines agricultural land as unimproved land of 20 or more acres, used as farmland, forestland or open space, though its analysis also kept some parcels that carry improvement values, and its data are the transactions each locality submits to the Virginia Department of Taxation.
The report is plain about its limits, and those limits belong next to any figure taken from it. Its statistics are only indicators of past general conditions and do not represent the value of any particular parcel. They are not a substitute for an appraisal or a study of current local sales, and they do not forecast future values. Because localities report the data themselves, some entries may be incomplete or missing.
A recorded deed states the consideration, one sale at a time
Underneath every study is a stack of individual deeds, and those are public records.
Under Va. Code 58.1-802 A, a deed conveying realty that has been sold, the kind of writing the grantor tax is imposed on, is not admitted to record unless the amount of the consideration is stated on its first page and the clerk's certification that the tax has been paid is affixed. So a recorded deed of that kind shows the consideration on its first page.
In Carroll County, anyone can search the Circuit Court's land record index back to 1842 without a monthly fee, though that free search does not show images. The court offers a monthly Secure Remote Access subscription to deeds and other land records, a fee its page ties to Va. Code 17.1-276, and the Clerk's Office number is 276-730-3070. Other clerks in the footprint set their own terms.
Using the index to trace who holds a parcel is covered in how to find out who owns a piece of land, and the recording step itself in where to record a deed in Carroll County.
Reading market data for a county in this footprint?
Tell Lowell which county or city you are looking at and the figure you found. He will say who published it, what it covers, and where it stops being useful for your land. No cost, no obligation.
Got it. Thank you.
We'll be in touch shortly with an honest read.
Questions this raises
Does the Virginia Tax ratio study tell me what my parcel is worth?
No. The study estimates a ratio for each county and city by comparing assessed values to the selling prices of a sample of fair market sales. It says nothing about a single parcel. The assessed value of your own parcel comes from the commissioner of the revenue or the assessor, and an appraisal comes from a licensed appraiser.
Why do SWVAR's market reports leave out Carroll and Grayson when its MLS covers them?
SWVAR states only that its quarterly reports include Washington, Smyth and Russell counties, while its MLS quick reference names Carroll, Grayson, Wythe and Galax in the service area. No source read explains the difference. The Southwest Virginia Association of REALTORS, at (276) 623-1252, is the office to ask.
Does every recorded deed show what the land sold for?
Not necessarily. Va. Code 58.1-802 A keeps a deed, instrument or writing by which realty sold is conveyed, the writings the grantor tax is imposed on, from being admitted to record unless the consideration is stated on its first page. A recorded document outside that description is not reached by that sentence. Whether a particular document falls inside it is a question for the clerk's office or a settlement attorney.
Where this page's facts come from
Every rule, office and figure above traces to one of these. Rules change; check the office before you act on one.
- Home Sales Reports Virginia REALTORS
- Virginia Home Sales Report, July 2026 Virginia REALTORS
- Research data (home sales and median sales prices by county and city) Virginia REALTORS
- Local associations directory Virginia REALTORS
- Market Reports Southwest Virginia Association of REALTORS
- MLS Quick Reference Handout (service area) Southwest Virginia Association of REALTORS
- Association home page (service area) New River Valley Association of REALTORS
- Assessment/Sales Ratio Studies (Va. Code 58.1-207) Virginia Department of Taxation
- 2025 Assessment/Sales Ratio Study report Virginia Department of Taxation
- Agricultural Land Sales in Virginia, 2023 (AAEC-324) Virginia Cooperative Extension
- Va. Code 58.1-802, grantor tax and recordation Virginia General Assembly
- Land Records (index search and Secure Remote Access, Va. Code 17.1-276) Carroll County Circuit Court