NoVa, Hampton Roads home sales rise in July

Home sales in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads rose year-over-year in July, while inventory as measured by active listings rose year-over-year and month-over-month for both. Both regions also saw median sales prices rise from the previous year but drop from June prices.

Northern Virginia

July home sales in Northern Virginia rose 13.5% from July 2023 and were up 0.8% from June, according to data released Tuesday by the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors.

Home sales in the region last month totaled 1,639. Pending sales totaled 1,419 units, down from 1,507 in July 2023.

There were 1,764 active listings in July, up from 1,445 listings last year. New listings numbered 1,496 units, well below the five-year average of 2,251 new listings for the month of July.

Homes stayed on the market an average of 16 days, up 6.7% from July 2023 and up from June’s average of 14 days. The month’s supply of inventory (MSI) — a measure of how many months there would be homes on the market if no new inventory were added — stood at 1.3 months, the same MSI as June and a nearly 30% increase from July 2023. That inventory level is higher than the five-year average of a 1.2 MSI.

“The spike in inventory and homes sales in July are more good signs that our post-pandemic real estate market is getting back to what we previously considered normal,” NVAR CEO Ryan McLaughlin said in a statement.

The median sold price for a Northern Virginia home last month was $735,000, up 6.4% from July 2023 but down from the $780,000 median recorded for June.

“July’s supply of homes grew from a year ago, providing consumers with more options in a market that has been hungry to buy. This desire for housing continues to drive prices higher, but buyers are enjoying the availability of more homes,” NVAR board member Michele Brantley with Weichert Realtors said in a statement.

NVAR reports home sales activity for Fairfax and Arlington counties, the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church, and the towns of Vienna, Herndon and Clifton.

Hampton Roads

July home sales in Hampton Roads totaled 2,346, up 1.3% from the 2,316 sales recorded in July 2023 and down 0.38% from June’s 2,355 sales, according to Real Estate Information Network (REIN) data released in early August.

Pending sales also rose year-over-year, totaling 2,315 last month — up 4.5% from the 2,215 recorded in June and up 7.2% from the 2,159 recorded in July 2023.

The number of Hampton Roads homes for sale in July reached its highest point since October 2020, when the region had 4,887 active listings. Last month, active listings totaled 4,641, up 5.9% from June and up 34.4% year-over-year. The month’s supply of inventory for July was 2.28, up from 2.16 in June and from 1.54 in July 2023.

“We’re happy to see settled and pending sales up over last year,” Gary Lundholm with The Real Estate Group, president of REIN’s board of directors, said in a statement. “That’s good for our agents and brokers. Likewise, an increase in active listings offers more choices for home shoppers and is certainly helping to stabilize selling prices.”

The median sales price (MSP) for the region was $355,500 in July, up 4.5% from $340,000 in July 2023 but down from the region’s all-time high of $360,000 in June.

Homes in the region spent a median of 18 days on the market, up from the median of 16 days in June and the 12-day median recorded in July 2023.

Founded in 1969, REIN is a regional multiple listing service that covers an area stretching from Williamsburg east to Virginia Beach and south across the North Carolina border.