Hampton Roads sees record drop in available homes for sale

Housing inventory down 47% compared to August 2019

Published September 14, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Hampton Roads housing inventory was down by nearly 47% in August, compared to August 2019, Real Estate Information Network Inc. (REIN) reported Tuesday.

The region’s supply of inventory stood at just 1.97 months in August, which is the lowest recording since REIN began tracking this metric in September 2008.

“Simply stated, if no new listings were added to the market after August 31st, it would take less than two months for the current inventory to sell out,” according to REIN.

The region had 5,105 residential active listings in August, which is 42.15% fewer than the 8,824 listings from last August. The risk of running out of inventory is unlikely, however, because new listings hit the market each day according to REIN. REIN also reported that the number of homes that went under contract in August increased by nearly 35% and residential settled sales (the number of homes closed) also rose 15.37%.

“Usually the real estate market begins to slow as the summer months wind down, vacations wrap up, and kids head back to school,” REIN President Barry Nachman said in a statement. “But if 2020 has taught us anything, this year is not ‘usual.’ Our region’s sales remain strong and there is no sign of a market slowdown in terms of how quickly homes sell once listed in the MLS. Demand from buyers coupled with a low availability of homes on the market suggests that 2020’s current sales trends will continue through the end of the year.”

REIN also reported that residential median sales price increased from $255,000 to $275,000 and the number of foreclosures and short sales in Hampton Roads dropped 2.34%.