HAMPTON ROADS, Va. — The number of new houses for sale is at its lowest level in more than a decade, according to Virginia Realtors.
In June, there were about 12,000 new listings, which is about a 25% drop off compared to the year before, according to the group.
The group's chief economist, Ryan Price, said a big reason fewer listings is rising interest rates. Many bought homes with lower rates a few years ago.
"A lot of those casual sellers or move up buyers really don't have a lot of incentives to list their homes, which is going to keep inventory levels relatively low," said Price.
There were about 16,000 active listings at the end of June, but that was about 3,000 fewer compared to 2022, the group reported.
That means it continues to be a seller's market, where people are getting multiple offers on homes when they list them.
"We're seeing sellers get above their asking price on average, which is a clear indicator of it being a seller's market," said Price.
Locally, Troye Levin, a Realtor with MK & Associates, says there is just 1.2 months of housing inventory in Hampton Roads, meaning it would be about six weeks to deplete the number of homes for sale.
In a well balanced market, the number would be four to six months of supply. "That tells us that there are more people looking to buy houses than there are houses available on the market right now," Levin said.
She says things are definitely slower than they were a few years ago. "I can definitely say it's tougher than it was a few years ago and the way I can measure that as a Realtor is that I'm doing fewer transactions a month than I was a few years ago," she said.
Levin said potential buyers should know the higher interest rates are temporary and things will eventually change.
"I wouldn't let that discourage you if you're looking to purchase a home because if your home is not the right home, that interest rate doesn't matter," she said.
She believes interest rates should be a factor, but not the only factor on a buyer's mind.
"Everything in real estate is a trade-off. Whether it's location, price, size of home, you have to make concessions on all those things, so it's the same thing when it comes to people who want to upgrade," she said.
