New Tool for Policy and Investment Funded by Community Impact Grant

May 15, 2026

Decision-makers in Richmond and its surrounding localities have a valuable new resource for understanding the details of their housing landscape. The Greater Richmond Market Value Analysis (MVA) is a tool that translates complex housing data into an easy-to-explore map and dashboard that gives elected officials, planners and private developers a clearer sense of how to shape housing policy and where to direct investment in the region.

PlanRVA, the planning district commission for the region, developed the Greater Richmond MVA in partnership with Reinvestment Fund, a nationally focused organization that built the analysis methodology. A Virginia Housing Community Impact Grant was instrumental in funding the project.

The Community Impact Grant can cover the costs of market research, design and engineering studies, community outreach, neighborhood community design, mixed-use/mixed-income development planning and other initiatives to provide housing and spur economic growth. The Community Impact Grant’s Market Assessment sub-category provides funds for looking at a locality or region to identify the highest needs and priorities for the local housing stock.

What’s in the Greater Richmond MVA?

The Greater Richmond MVA uses locally sourced data from each of PlanRVA’s nine jurisdictions – Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent and Powhatan counties, the city of Richmond and the town of Ashland – to sort each of the region’s Census block groups into one of nine market clusters. The market clusters are based on characteristics that include home sales prices, vacancy rates, housing subsidies used in the area and recent investment activity. By displaying where market characteristics vary widely and where they are more similar, the Greater Richmond MVA provides a strong starting point for understanding where various actions, from zoning changes to investment incentives, might have the greatest impact.

“Good policy and program design starts with good data and good data analysis,” said Special Projects Manager for the city of Richmond’s Department of Housing and Community Development Rachel Hightman, whose team is using the new MVA to guide updates to Richmond’s equitable and affordable housing plan. Hightman was also part of the Greater Richmond MVA’s steering committee, which worked closely with the development team to ensure the information in the tool reflects real-world conditions. “The MVA will meaningfully inform the region’s policy, particularly as it relates to housing,” she said.

Building on Previous Versions

Reinvestment Fund conducted previous MVAs for the Richmond region in 2017 and 2022, but the 2026 iteration is the first to expand to rural and exurban areas. This is key to the new MVA’s utility, as residents around Richmond may live in one locality but work in another and shop or spend leisure time somewhere else, all within a 15-minute drive. This means that the state of housing in one place affects housing in the entire region.

Virginia Housing’s support helped make this step possible. Additional funding from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development provided for New Kent County also supported the project.

“Virginia Housing’s help was crucial,” said Sarin Adhikari, PlanRVA’s Principal Data Manager. “The MVA used to be based off only Richmond, parts of Henrico and parts of Chesterfield. Our economic footprint is where all of our workforce can commute from or commute to, and the housing choices in one locality can make a lot of difference for people across the region. We wanted to include all nine of our localities because the region is so inter-related, and Virginia Housing helped us with the funding needed to do so.”

Does your locality or region need funding to tackle a housing challenge?
We’re eager to speak with you, whether you have a clear idea of an effort you want to undertake or you’re still trying to grasp what’s needed. Please visit VirginiaHousing.com/Grants or reach out to Grants@VirginiaHousing.com to start the conversation.