NoVa, Hampton Roads home sales fall in March

Home sales in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads dropped year-over-year in March, a reversal from sales growth seen in February. Median sales prices, though, continued to rise.

Northern Virginia

Northern Virginia home sales in March dropped 13.8% from March 2023, a reversal from the year-over-year sales growth seen in February, according to data the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors released Friday.

Closed home sales for the region last month totaled 1,191 units, down from March 2023 but up about 14.4% from the 1,020 homes sold in February. New pending sales numbered 1,606 sales, up 0.4% from the same month last year.

“We had a reprieve in February as sales grew year-over-year for the first time since 2021, but March was a return to what we have been experiencing: lower sales from the previous year,” NVAR board member Christina Rice with Pearson Smith Realty said in a statement. “That said, I think February’s positive news represents a change that is going to slowly transform the housing market, getting us back to more normal market dynamics.”

Active listings in March totaled 1,210 units, down 14.6% from the 1,417 reported in the same month last year. There were 1,504 new listings in Northern Virginia last month, down from March 2023’s 1,744 new listings.

Reflecting the market’s high demand and low supply, homes stayed on the market an average of 16 days in March, down 27.3% from the 22-day average recorded in March 2023. 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, the same MSI as March 2023 and roughly the same as February’s MSI.

The median sold price for a home last month was $730,000, up 9.8% compared to March 2023 and up from the February median price of $687,250. The total sold volume in March was $973.6 million, down 8.5% from March 2023.

“We are seeing less dramatic drops in year-over-year sales than in the past year,” NVAR CEO Ryan McLaughlin said in a statement. “Coupled with February’s good news, we expect to see more homeowners ready to sell in the height of the spring market.”

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

In Hampton Roads, home sales in March were down year-over-year, but supply rose, according to Real Estate Information Network (REIN) data released Wednesday.

The Hampton Roads housing market had 2,057 closed sales last month, up from the 1,709 sales reported in February but down about 9.66% from the March 2023 total of 2,277 sales. Pending sales totaled 2,317, up from 2,138 pending sales in February but down from 2,454 in March 2023.

The Hampton Roads market had 3,574 active listings last month, the highest number of active listings in a March since March 2020, when 6,820 homes were listed. The March 2024 total is also up 14.4% from the 3,124 listings reported in March 2023 and slightly up from February, which had 3,568 active listings.

Additionally, the month’s supply of inventory was 1.75, up slightly from the MSI of 1.73 in February and from March 2023’s MSI of 1.27.

“More inventory means more choices for consumers, which is a good thing,” Gary Lundholm with The Real Estate Group, president of REIN’s board of directors, said in a statement. “And as we head into spring and summer, having that additional inventory will hopefully help keep prices more affordable for buyers, while still ensuring home sellers get a fair return.”

Homes spent a median of 18 days on the market in March, down from 22 days in February but up from the 15-day median reported in March 2023.

The median sale price of homes in the region was $332,000 last month, up from $327,500 in February and from $320,000 in March 2023.

“The median selling price for homes in March 2020 was $249,900,” Lundholm said in a statement. “While that market was very different from today’s market, more choices for a buyer means that not only does that buyer have a better chance of finding the right home, but they might also have a bit less competition for the home they want.”

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.