It’s amazing what a difference a year can make – especially in local real estate. According to the National Association of Realtors® the number of houses available to purchase nationally averaged a 4.9 month supply. This means that if no other homes came onto the market it would take less than five months for all the homes to be sold. This is called an absorption rate and a rate of five months or lower typically indicated a sellers’ market. An absorption rate of eight months or higher indicates a buyers’ market.
So what does that mean for our local market?
According to numbers pulled from REIN, by the end of August 2013 the Hampton Roads real estate market had a 5.7 month absorption rate – this is down from the 6.2 month rate in 2012 significantly that like the rest of the country, Hampton Roads is increasingly becoming closer to a sellers market.
But that big number doesn’t tell the full story. Each city in Hampton Roads has a different absorption rate for different price points.
For example in Virginia Beach the average list price for property is around $308,000 with an absorption rate of 4.35 months – showing a normal sellers’ market. The City of Chesapeake has an average listing price of $261,000 with an absorption rate of 4.3. And the absorption rates change when looking at specific price points, typically rising home prices indicates a higher absorption rate.
The importance of looking at this information is that price matters when putting property on the market. Your best bet when wanting to get into the real estate game is to talk to your favorite Rose & Womble Real Estate Agent who can go over the particulars of your market – down to the neighborhood. This means that you can list your home at the right price and hopefully beat the absorption rate.