Home sales, prices up in NoVa, Hampton Roads, Central Va.

The Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and Central Virginia housing markets showed positive trends last month, with month-over-month and year-over-year increases in home sales and median sales prices.

Northern Virginia

Northern Virginia home sales in February grew 2.2% from February 2023, marking the first year-over-year growth in the market’s home sales since November 2021, according to data the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors released Tuesday.

Northern Virginia had 1,020 home sales in February, up year-over-year and up from 771 units sold in January. Total sold volume in February also rose from last year, increasing 16.3% to $841.159 million. Before February, NVAR’s last recorded month with year-over-year growth in home sales was November 2021, when 2,124 homes sold in the region, an 11% increase from November 2020.

“Spring is always strong for the Northern Virginia real estate market, but this one is looking particularly positive as we are seeing more listings coming on the market as compared to a year ago, and those who are buying are willing to spend a little more,” David Raffinengo with KW Metro Center, an NVAR board member, said in a statement. “People are getting over the mortgage rate sticker shock, and with the potential for rates easing more, I believe we will see even more sellers willing to put their houses on the market.”

Homes sold faster than last year, staying on the market an average of 22 days — down 31.3% from February 2023 and down from January’s 29-day average.

Regional supply remained tight in February but grew slightly. 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 0.9 months, up from the January MSI of 0.74 and the February 2023 MSI of 0.8.

Northern Virginia had 1,153 active listings last month, down 6.56% compared with February 2023. New pending sales in February totaled 1,177, down 2% from a year ago.

High demand continued to push prices up, according to NVAR. The median sold price for a home in February was $687,250, up 11.8% from a year ago and up from January’s median sales price of $650,000.

One local market had a 68.5% increase in its median sales price from February 2023. According to multiple listing service Bright MLS, only five homes sold in Falls Church last month, and the median sold price of those was $1.115 million.

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.

The Bright MLS February housing market report on the Washington, D.C., metro includes a market outlook: “Buyers in the Washington, D.C., metro area have been frustrated by a lack of inventory, but it looks like there may be some relief on the way. In February, the number of new listings coming onto the market was 7.2% higher than a year ago; however, the market is still going to be very competitive across most of the region this spring,” according to the report.

Hampton Roads

The Hampton Roads market also had positive data points last month. The numbers of active listings, pending sales and settled sales increased month-over-month and year-over-year, according to the Real Estate Information Network (REIN).

In February, active residential listings in the region totaled 3,568, up from 3,538 in January and up 13.9% from the 3,130 listings reported in February 2023.

Pending sales totaled 2,138, up from 1,837 in January and up from 2,058 a year ago. The region had 1,709 settled sales, up from 1,470 sales in January and 1,684 sales in February 2023.

“These are some encouraging signs as we approach the spring season,” REIN Board President Gary Lundholm, with The Real Estate Group, said in a statement. “Of course, things can change quickly in real estate, but the median number of days properties are on the market also declined from January, which is good news for home sellers.”

Hampton Roads houses were on the market for a median of 22 days last month, down 10 days from January but up two days from February 2023.

In February, the median sales price for Hampton Roads homes also increased year-over-year and month-over-month, standing at $327,500. In January, the median sales price was $320,500, and in February 2023, the MSP was $313,650.

The month’s supply of inventory was 1.73, a slight increase from the January MSI of 1.72 and up from 1.24 a year ago.

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.

Central Virginia 

In Central Virginia, February residential property sales totaled 1,134, up 0.1% from last year, according to data from the Central Virginia Regional Multiple Listing Service (CVR MLS). In January, the market had 862 closed sales.

Pending sales were also up, at 1,311 in February, up 3.9% from February 2023 and up from 1,284 in January. New listings on the CVR MLS totaled 1,516, up 7.7% from a year ago and up from 1,418 in January.

Homes stayed on the market slightly longer, averaging 33 days, up one day from February 2023 and up from 28 days in January. The month’s supply of inventory stood steady at 1.4, the same as January and up from 1.2 last year.

The median sales price of homes sold in February in the region was $377,140, up 6.2% from the MSP of $355,000 reported last year and from January’s MSP of $367,500.

In the Richmond metro area — Richmond city and the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico — the median sales price was $390,000, up 7.7% from February 2023’s MSP of $362,000. The metro area had 914 closed sales last month, up 6.3% from the 860 sales recorded in February 2023.

The CVR MLS monthly indicators report covers residential real estate activity, including single-family homes and townhomes/condos, in the counties of Amelia, Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, King William, King and Queen, New Kent, Powhatan and Prince George and the cities of Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Petersburg and Richmond.