ROBUST REAL ESTATE MARKET CONTINUES IN HAMPTON ROADS VA JULY 2017

The Hampton Roads real estate showed continued signs of a vibrant market in July 2017. Residential pending sales (properties that went under contract) were up significantly year-over-year, while settled sales (closed transactions) declined slightly. Active listings once again declined year-over-year for the 24th consecutive month.

The region measured 10,993 residential active listings in July 2017, a 5.01% decrease from the same period of time in 2016. All seven of the region’s major cities (Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Hampton and Newport News) experienced year-over-year reductions in their inventory of properties for sale, with Norfolk and Newport News undergoing the largest drops, down 11.09% and 10.05% respectively.

July’s months’ supply of residential homes inventory is currently sitting at 5.04 months, down 10.16% from July 2016. Three of the area’s major cities exhibited inventory supplies below five months – Virginia Beach (4.24), Chesapeake (4.33), and Newport News (4.91). Portsmouth bore the highest months’ supply of inventory of the major cities, at 6.15 months.

Residential pending sales for July are up a healthy 12.86% year-over-year, with 2,527 homes going under contract during the month. Six of the region’s major cities experienced double-digit gains between 10.06% to 16.31% in the number of homes going under contract, with the seventh (Virginia Beach) rising a more modest 6.45%. In July 2017, the average number of “days on market” for a listing was 62 days, a number that has been steadily declining year-over-year since it peaked in July 2011 at 96 days. Average days on market has not been this low for July since 2006, when it was 47 days.

Contrary to the increased pending sales, July’s residential settled sales softened year-over-year. July 2017 recorded 2,392 settled sales, down a negligible 1.24% from the 2,422 homes sold in July 2016. Of the major cities, four experienced year-over-year gains – Suffolk 11.94%, Chesapeake 10%, Hampton 8.84%, and Newport News 7.41%. All other major cities experienced declines varying between 3.66% and 15.28%. To date, the only other month in 2017 to experience a year-over-year decline in settled sales was February.

The region’s residential median sales price rose 1.95% from $235,000 in July 2016 to $239,579 in July 2017. Of the major cities, July’s highest median sales price was $279,950 in Chesapeake, while the lowest was $155,500 in Hampton.

Distressed homes, those that are either short sales or foreclosure, continued to decrease as a percentage of the market year-over-year, though the numbers did rise marginally month-over-month. During July 2017, distressed homes accounted for just 10.37% of all residential active listings. This was down 2.74% from the same period of time last year, but up a slight .14% from June 2017. Similarly, July’s distressed homes accounted for only 9.83% of all residential settled sales, a decrease of 1.19% from July 2016, but up .62% from June 2017.

psst … I’m a Realtor! Thanks for stopping by my website. I  would love to help you find your dream home and community in the Hampton Roads or Williamsburg areas of Virginia or to sell your existing home. This post was authored by local resident and REALTOR, John Womeldorf. John is known around town as Mr. Williamsburg, for both his extensive knowledge of the Williamsburg/ Hampton Roads area and his expertise in the local real estate market. You can reach John by phone at 757-254-8136 or email him at   [email protected]I look forward to serving your real estate needs!

Best,