A few more sellers were enticed into the Virginia homes market in May, but potential buyers are starting to pull back a little.
That’s according to the latest survey of real-estate sentiment, conducted May 22-31 by the Virginia Realtors trade group.
Just over 1,500 members took part in the survey, including 1,142 who had participated in at least one transaction in the preceding month.
Takeaways from the data:
• The survey’s buyer-activity index for May was 63 on a 0-to-100 sale, down from 65 a month before but still the second highest over the past 13 months.
• Forty-four percent of respondents said buyer activity was “high” or “very high” in their locales, while 17 percent said it was “low” or “very low.”
• On the seller side, the activity index was 16 on the 0-to-100 scale, up from 11 a month before. But only 4 percent of respondents said seller activity was high or very high, and while down from 81 percent in April, a whopping 77 percent still said activity was low or very low.
• For properties that found a match in May, there were an average of 2.6 offers, down from four a month before. Sixty percent of homes sold above listing price, down from 65 percent a month before.
Where might the market be headed? Asked to gaze three months into the future, respondents gave an average rating of 57 to buyer activity and 28 to seller activity. About 46 percent of respondents said they expected home-sale prices to be higher in three months’ time in their communities, while 16 percent predicted lower and 34 percent thought they would be flat.
Though not a scientific survey, the trade group believes the response is large enough to give a good sense of the state of the market.
For information, see the Website at www.virginiarealtors.org.
