Pending Sales Rise Significantly for Many of the Region’s Cities
More than 3,000 homes in the Hampton Roads region went under contract in April 2019. This is 15.07% more pending contracts than in April 2018, a significant increase. Even more noteworthy, four of the region’s seven major cities experienced year-over-year increases between 30-60%!
In April, 4,545 new listings were added to the market (4,290 of those residential homes), an increase of 3.70% over the same period of time last year. Despite this influx, the region’s residential active listings for April 2019 dropped 7.09% year-over-year. This is the 45th consecutive month that active listings have declined year-over-year. Of the region’s seven major cities (Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Hampton and Newport News), Suffolk was the only city to experience an increase in inventory, up a slight 1.76% year-over-year. Hampton and Portsmouth underwent the most substantial declines at 21.91% and 12.31% respectively.
April’s supply of residential home inventory is currently at 3.85 months, down 9.62% from April 2018. This is the 48th consecutive month that the months’ supply of inventory has declined year-over-year. Of the region’s seven major cities, Suffolk’s month’s supply is the highest at 4.72 months, still significantly below the six months that is typically considered a balanced market.
3,123 homes went under contract in April 2019, a rise of 15.07% compared to April 2018. This continues the trend where 58 of the past 59 months have exhibited increases. Four of the region’s major cities experienced weighty year-over-year increases over 30%: Portsmouth 30.14%, Norfolk 45.57%, Hampton 47.53%, and Suffolk 57.93%. Newport News and Chesapeake were the only major cities to undergo declines in pending sales, down 3.93% and 3.67% respectively.
While April’s pending sales were strong, the month’s residential settled sales for the area declined by 1.86% year-over-year. Of the region’s major cities, three experienced year-over-year increases: Hampton 18.02%, Suffolk 16.30% and Portsmouth 4.32%. The remaining four cities underwent declines between 2.08% – 6.98%.
The area’s residential median sales price for April 2019 was $241,000, up 4.06% from April 2018 when it was $231,587. Four of the region’s major cities (Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk and Hampton) experienced gains in median sales price, rising between 7.52% and 20.69%. The remaining three cities (Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Newport News) saw declines under 1%.
The number of distressed homes in the Hampton Roads region, those that are either short sales or foreclosures, has significantly decreased. In April 2019, distressed homes accounted for just 8.44% of all residential settled sales, down 2.17% year-over-year. Similarly, distressed homes accounted for only 7.47% of all residential active listings in April 2019, down 2.44% year-over-year and the lowest recording since REIN began tracking the data in August 2009.
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