Optimistic Numbers Suggest a Recovering Market

Shrinking inventory & increased sales

July’s housing statistics suggest the Hampton Roads Housing may be on the road to recovery. Significant increases in residential under contract and settled sales, combined with a downswing in the number of active listings and the months’ supply of inventory are all healthy indicators of a market on the rebound.Pending sales increased 25.35% from July 2011. Though no guarantee, high under contract counts are often a pre-curser to a high volume of settled sales in the future.

Hampton Roads saw a 20% increase in settled sales in July 2012 when compared to July 2011. Each of the seven major cities experienced year-over-year increases. More good news, the median sales price for settled sales in the region climbed to $209,900, a 6.28% increase from July 2011 which reported a median sales price was 197,500. This marks the fifth consecutive month the median sales price has increased.

The number of homes listed for sale in Hampton Roads continues to decline and active listings are down 18.16% when compared to July of last year. All seven cities saw drops in residential active listings of 10% or higher. Virginia Beach and Chesapeake experienced the largest decreases at 24.32% and 23.21%. This steady downswing in residential active listings has resulted in a lower month’s supply inventory, now at 7.27 months. A 6 months’ supply of inventory is  considered a “normal” market.

Distressed homes accounted for 24.22% of the active listings in July 2012. Distressed homes accounted for 29.13% of the settled sales in July 2012.

For more detailed figures see link:  JULY2012-STATS

All figures provided herein are a courtesy of REIN (Real Estate Information Network).