Home Sales Rose in Much of the Hampton Roads Real Estate Market in July

August 20, 2018

Market Minute Logo 2017 smallMost areas within the Hampton Roads real estate market saw an increase in the number of homes sold in July, according to the Long & Foster Market Minute reports. The Hampton Roads region includes Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk and Virginia Beach cities.

Hampton Roads Market Minute Chart July 2018

Three parts of the Hampton Roads region experienced double-digit increases in home sales in July. In Virginia Beach City, the number of homes sold increased by 35 percent, followed by a 27 percent increase in Hampton City and a 14 percent increase in Chesapeake City. A few areas also experienced increases in median sale price, including a 14 percent increase in Newport News City and a 12 percent increase in Hampton City.

Active inventory continued to fall significantly in the Hampton Roads region last month, with decreases ranging from 38 percent to 45 percent. On average, homes sold at a steady pace in much of the market. Chesapeake City experienced the lowest days on market average at 38 days, followed by Newport News City where homes sold in 57 days on average.

Looking at the data, a number of regions in Long & Foster’s market performed better in July than in the previous spring months.

“This year’s spring market happened at different times in different regions – July was spring for some of them,” said Gary Scott, president of Long & Foster Real Estate. “It’s likely that the springtime transactions that were not happening were simply delayed, not lost.”

It’s because of these differences from one location to another that it’s important to make sure consumers aren’t taking any singular statement and applying it to any one market, Scott said.

“The media makes very general statements – ‘Prices are Appreciating’ – which feels good if I’m a seller,” Scott said. “But if the media is looking at averages, many people still fall outside of the average. Your real estate professional can help you disarm and interpret the media on a local scale.”

“Sellers in particular have to be very careful about using listing prices as comparables when putting their house on the market,” Scott said. “It’s really important to look at the sales in your area as opposed to listing prices, because listing process are more irrelevant today than they’ve been in a long time.”

The Long & Foster Market Minute is an overview of market statistics based on residential real estate transactions for more than 500 local areas and neighborhoods and over 100 counties in eight states. The easy-to-read, easy-to-share reports include information about each area’s units sold, active inventory, median sale prices, list to sold price ratio, days on market and more.

Information included in this report is based on data supplied by Real Estate Information Network multiple listing service and its member associations of Realtors, which are not responsible for its accuracy. The reports include residential real estate transactions within specific geographic regions, not just Long & Foster sales, and they do not reflect all activity in the marketplace. Information contained in this report is deemed reliable but not guaranteed, should be independently verified, and does not constitute an opinion of REIN or Long & Foster Real Estate.