Area Real Estate Market Avoids May Slowdown

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (June 2022) – Despite recent reports of a slowdown in residential real estate markets across much of the nation, May in the Hampton Roads region saw month-over-month increases in settled sales, pending sales, active listings, median sales price (MSP), and even Months’ Supply of Inventory (MSI).

The MSP across the region in May set another new record high, reaching $328,795. That’s up from $319,900 in April, which was itself a short-lived record.

Inventory also continues to trend up – ever so slightly.

The MSI, which is a calculation of how long it would take for all inventory to be sold if no new properties came on the market, was at 1.10 months in May, compared to 1.01 in April, .88 in March, and .78 in February. Year-over-year, the MSI was down from 1.25 in May 2021 and less than half of the 2.54 recorded in May 2020.

“As real estate professionals, we’re happy to see the market beginning to level off a bit from the chaos of 2020 and 2021,” said Liz Moore, REIN Board President and Broker/Owner of Liz Moore & Associates. “We are keeping a close eye on continued increases in MSP, however, since housing affordability is a concern for everyone.”

Moore pointed out that although the MSI has increased slightly each of the last four months, new listings were down 3.3% from April to May, while both pending and settled sales were up during that same time.

“I think inventory issues will depend on whether mortgage rates go higher, remain steady, or drop, since just about everyone who sells a home will still need to buy a home to have a place to live,” she said. “These potential sellers will pay attention to both mortgage rates and sales prices before they make a decision.”

• Active listings for May were 3,436. That’s up by 7.8% month-over-month, but down 10.38% year-over-year.
• Settled sales during May were 3,191. That’s up 13.4% from April, but down 5.5% from May 2021.
• Pending sales for May stood at 3,263, a 5% increase month-over-month, but an 8.8% decrease year-over-year.
• New residential listings added to the market in May totaled 3,723. That’s down slightly from 3,889 added to the market in April.
• Average days on market (DOM) for listings was eight for the month of May, up one day from seven in April.
• Residential new construction sold in the MLS during May was 265, down 14.5% from 310 reported in May 2021.