Home Prices Finally Fall in Virginia Housing Market
Stubborn sellers of homes in Hampton Roads finally began to give in somewhat to get deals done in the oversupplied market in July, according to data from the Virginia Association of Realtors.
For the previous four months, the total number of homes sold had been down double digits for the year, as prices remained about 4 percent higher than in 2006. Supply of homes for sale and days on the Virginia housing market throughout 2007 has been much higher than 2006.
Those trends finally changed some in July, as sellers dropped prices and made concessions to get mortgage deals done. The price increases were under 3 percent, and the number of homes sold was only down 5 percent. That was a big improvement from May, when sales were down 17 percent from 2006.
It is still very much a buyer’s market in Hampton Roads, and it takes 35 percent longer to sell than a year ago. But the region has not seen the magnitude of the mortgage problems experienced in many other markets.
The data for July suggests that sellers may have even been motivated by a national credit crunch to start making concessions they had stubbornly resisted so far this year. Because of a strong regional economy, Hampton Roads has seen some of the lowest levels of foreclosures and exposure to problematic bad credit mortgage loans amongst major U.S cities.
Despite the relative strength compared to the nation, foreclosures and bad loans are still a growing problem in the region. The extra supply has not caused the headaches faced in other real estate markets, but it has stopped the charge of recent years’ bull market in Hampton Roads.
The Williamsburg market, which includes sales in upper York County and James City County, continued to swing erratically in June. Prices dropped dramatically, which got more homes sold - and sold quicker - than in July 2006.
The median price of $292,000 was down 6 percent from a year ago, and nearly $31,000 from May. The number of homes sold in Williamsburg has been down most of the year, but it increased by 10 homes, or 4.7 percent, in July.
SOURCE: The Daily Press