The number of distressed homes in the Hampton Roads region, those that are either short sales or foreclosures, has significantly decreased. In March 2019, distressed homes accounted for only 8.36% of all residential active listings, the lowest recording since REIN began tracking this data in August 2009. Similarly, distressed homes accounted for just 8.28% of all residential settled sales in March 2019, down 2.81% year-over-year.
Despite a 2.54% bump in the number of listing from February to March, the region’s residential active listings for March 2019 dropped 6.17% year-over-year. This is the 44th 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), Norfolk was the only city to experience an increase in inventory, up 5.55% year-over-year. The remaining six cities underwent declines ranging between 4.69% and 14.17%.
March’s supply of residential home inventory is currently at 3.71 months, down 9.73% from the same period of time last year. This is the 47th consecutive month that the months’ supply of inventory had declined year-over-year. The months’ supply for six of the seven major cities is below 4 months. Suffolk is the highest with a current inventory at 4.49 months, still significantly below the six months that is typically considered a balanced market.
The number of homes that went under contract in March 2019 (2,708 units) rose a modest 2.58% compared to March 2018, continuing a trend where 57 of the past 58 months have exhibited increases. Three of the region’s major cities experienced a year-over-year decline in pending sales, Portsmouth (-.63%), Virginia Beach (-2.73%) and Norfolk (-5.03%). The remaining 4 cities underwent increases between 3.08% and 14.93%.
Similarly, the region’s settled sales for March rose 1.90% year-over-year, closing only 43 more homes than in March 2018. Of the region’s major cities, all Southside locals experienced a year-over-year decrease in the number of homes sold (ranging from -.63% to -9.09%), while on the Peninsula both Hampton and Newport News saw an increase in sales year-over-year at 31.45% and 8.77% respectively.
The area’s residential median sales price for March 2019 was $229,900, down a marginal .04% from March 2018 when it was $230,000. Five of the region’s major cities (Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Hampton) experienced gains in median sales price, rising between 2.37% and 11.63%. The remaining two cities (Chesapeake and Newport News) saw declines between 0.80% - 1.59%.