The Hampton Roads real estate market continues to see positive gains. The number of homes listed for sale, homes that went under contract, and residential settled sales all experienced double digit year-over-year percentage changes. February 2012 also showed signs of improvement in the distressed residential market.
The number of residential active listings in February was down 19% when compared to the same time last year. This marks a full year with continuous decreases in homes for sale. All seven of the major local cities (Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach) saw drops in active listings. With the exception of Chesapeake, all the major cities declined 14% or more. The months’ supply of inventory dropped to 7.46 months from 7.5 in January and continues to decrease as it is directly impacted by the fall in the number of homes for sale.
Residential under contract sales were up 19% in February when compared to the same time last year. Each of the seven major cities experienced year-over-year percentage increases. Only Chesapeake did not see double digit percentage increases, with only a 2% gain. Suffolk and Hampton saw the largest year-over-year increases at 39% and 31% respectively. Increases in under contract sales are often a leading indicator of settled sales activity for the next few months.
Continuing the upward trend in the Hampton Roads real estate market for February 2012 was settled sales. Residential settled sales increased 21% when compared to the same time last year. Portsmouth saw the largest increase at 66% and Hampton had the second largest increase at 33%. Out of the seven major cities, Newport News was the only one not to show a year-over-year increase as it experienced a decline of 10%. Though the median settled sales price was down 3% when compared to February of last year, it marked the lowest year-over-year decline since October 2010 when it fell 1%.
The distressed homes portion of the real estate market, those that are bank owned or short sales, continue to impact the region’s market. Distressed homes accounted for 36% of residential settled sales last month. This was lower than the 42% distressed homes comprised in February 2011 and 37% in January 2012
As for the homes for sale market, distressed homes accounted for 26% of active residential listings in February 2012, a 3% increase when compared to February 2011. The percentage of distressed homes as active listings has been relatively flat the past 6 months, ranging from 24% to 26%. Total distressed properties in the residential active market have dropped 16% since their peak count of 2,904 in November 2010.
Like what you are reading ? Want to receive updates by email in the future ? Sign up here  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 area 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 Hampton Roads and the historic triangle, and his expertise in the local real estate market. His websites, WilliamsburgsRealEstate.com and Mr Williamsburg.com were created as a resource for folks who are exploring a move to Williamsburg, VA , Hampton Roads VA and the surrounding areas of the Virginia Peninsula. On his website you can search homes for sale , foreclosures, 55+ active adult communities, condos and town homes , land and commercial property for sale in Williamsburg, Yorktown, New Kent, Poquoson, and Gloucester, VA as well as surrounding markets of Carrolton, Chesapeake,Gloucester, Hampton, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth Mathews, Newport News Norfolk, Poquoson, Smithfield, , Suffolk, Surry, Va Beach, Yorktown and York County Virginia You can reach John by email John@MrWilliamsburg.com or phone @ 757-254-8136 |
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