Data Shows Region’s Market Continuing to Cool

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (October 2022) – The real estate market in the Hampton Roads region continues to cool as interest rates, inflation, and high selling prices remain challenges for many would-be buyers.

September’s active listings, pending sales, and settled sales are all down as compared to the same month in both 2021 and 2020; although they have not completely returned to September 2019 levels – before the COVID pandemic and record low mortgage rates combined to fuel a two-year buying frenzy.

Data compiled by the Real Estate Information Network (REIN) shows that September’s pending sales stood at 2,403, just 140 fewer than the 2,543 recorded in Sept. 2019. However, settled sales last month were 2,629, which is 207 more than the 2,422 settled sales recorded in Sept. 2019.

“I think it’s fair to say that it’s somewhat difficult to compare this year’s market to 2021 or even to 2020,” said Liz Moore, President of the REIN’s Board of Directors and owner/broker for Liz Moore & Associates. “The market conditions then were very different than they are now. But our numbers for last month aren’t that much different than we might expect them to be during a more typical September market.”

Moore said that another sign of the cooling market is that selling prices are continuing to drop, adding that since May, the median sales price for homes across the region has fallen by nearly 6%.

September’s data points from REIN:

• Active residential listings totaled 4,056. That’s down 8.34% year-over-year and down slightly, 1.48%, month-over-month.
• Pending sales were 2,403, which was down 23.69% year-over-year and 14.79% month-over-month.
• Settled sales during the month were 2,629. That’s down 23.17% year-over-year, and down 12.1% month-over-month.
• The median sales price (MSP) of homes for the month was $310,000. That’s up 5.8% from $293,000 last September, but down from $315,990 in August 2022.
• The MSI for the month was 1.40. That’s up ever so slightly from 1.39 year-over-year. The MSI was also 1.39 in August.
• Median days on market (DOM) for residential listings was 18. That’s a month-over-month increase of 20% and the highest median DOM of the year so far.
• Residential new construction sold in the MLS during the month was 238, compared to 255 last September, which is a year-over-year drop of 6.67%.