The inventory crunch is impacting the real-estate market across the Old Dominion, and nowhere more so than in the local area.
That’s according to the Virginia Realtors trade group, which pegs Northern Virginia as having the biggest drop-off in available inventory statewide compared to last year this time.
“With mortgage rates at a 20-year high and a low supply of homes on the market to move into, some would-be sellers are choosing not to list their homes,” said Katrina Smith, president of the trade organization.
And while things already are tight, “inventory conditions are worsening in most local markets in Virginia,” Smith said.
Indeed: Despite a brief uptick in inventory at the beginning of 2023, two-thirds of Virginia’s cities and counties had fewer active listings on the market at the end of July than a year before.
Statewide, there were 16,508 active listings at the end of last month, down 19 percent (or nearly 3,900 homes) from a year ago. There were 10,948 new listings coming onto the market in July, down 20 percent (about 2,800) from a year before.
That lack of inventory has led some prospective buyers to sit on the sidelines. But others are in there, plugging away, despite the headwinds.
Because of limited inventory, “it is a sellers’ market, and most who do sell their homes are receiving multiple offers,” Smith said.
“Slow but competitive,” is how the organization’s chief economist, Ryan Price, describes current market conditions, noting that due to fewer sales, the overall dollar volume of transactions has retreated to 2015 levels even as prices are way up.
And those stratospheric prices are not likely to retreat in the near future.
“Competitive conditions are driving up home prices, and will likely continue to be a factor into the fall market and beyond,” Price said.
In July, a total of 9,895 homes sold across Virginia, down 21 percent from a year ago, while the median sales price of $400,000 was up $15,000 (4%) from a year before and up more than $100,000 from five years ago.
Nearly 60 percent of Virginia jurisdictions saw a higher median sales price compared to a year before in July, with the strongest price growth for the month in Central Virginia (Richmond and environs) and Northern Virginia.
Sellers continue to price their homes right and are getting, on average, slightly more than list price (101% in July, down slightly from 101.2% a year before).
Total sales volume for July was $4.4 billion, down 17 percent from a year before.
Figures represent most, but not all, homes on the market. All July 2023 figures are preliminary and are subject to revision.
