The housing market in Henrico and metro Richmond area appears to be headed in the only direction it could go -- up. That was the general consensus of attendees at the Richmond Association for Business Economics’ luncheon last month at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, following a presentation by Richmond Association of Realtors CEO Laura Lafayette.

“What I took away, and what I think [everyone else is] taking away as well is the real estate market has really bottomed out in the Richmond region,” said RABE president Charles Kennington. “And going forward, we’re going to see more good news than bad news.”

The numbers showed that the units sold in Virginia declined every year from 2005-2010, with last year showing the first signs of improvement (slightly more than 11,000 in 2011 compared to about 10,600 in 2010).