Hampton Roads Housing Market

September’s real estate market reflects decreases in listings and increases in pending sales and settled sales. Which is an indicator that we are moving towards a recovering market.

For the 19th consecutive month, the number of homes listed for sale has dropped. There were 13.7% less residential listings for the month when compared to Sept. of 2011 in Hampton Roads. Reductions in active residential listings inventory resulted in a lower “month’s supply” of 6.94 as compared to 8.8 months in September 2011. This further hints towards recovery as a six months’ supply is normally present in a stable market.

Pending (under contract) sales in the region have increased by 5.2% when compared to September 2011. Of the region’s major seven cities (Chesapeake, Hampton, Norfolk, Newport News, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach), Suffolk and Chesapeake saw the largest year-over-year-increases at 25.93% and 18.94%. Portsmouth and Hampton were on the opposite end as they both experienced year-over-year drops in residential pending unit sales by 12.64% and 8.47%.

Continuing the positive trends are indicators related to residential settled sales. When compared to September 2011, the number of residential sales increased by 2.5%. Virginia Beach and Chesapeake led the region with year-over-year increases of 12.78% and 9.24% respectively. Suffolk and Hampton remained steady, producing the same number of settled sales they did in September 2011. The median sales price for the region is currently $205,500. This is a 4.05% increase from September 2011’s median sale price of $197,475 and also marks the seventh consecutive month the median sale price has increased year-over-year.

The distressed homes, those that are banked owned or short sales, continue to have an impact on the market. During September 2012 distressed homes accounted for 26.41% of active listings. This number is up 2.8% from September of last year and is currently the highest it has been year-to-date. Distressed homes accounted for 25.41% of the region’s residential settled sales in September 2012. With the exception of August 2012’s 24.40%, this is the lowest percentage of distressed homes as settled sales in at least 18 months.