Hampton Roads home prices up by more than 10% in Sept.

Homes in Hampton Roads are still selling quickly and often above the listing price with multiple offers, according to the latest monthly statistics from the Real Estate Information Network in Virginia Beach, or REIN.

In September, the median price for a home sold in Hampton Roads rose by more than 10% compared with a year ago, the first time it’s ever grown that much year-over-year since REIN began tracking the price in 2006. For several months, home sales have endured and even excelled during a global health pandemic that has caused other industries to greatly suffer.

REIN’s data indicate the median sales price for homes across the region in September was $275,000 versus $249,900 a year ago.

The number of homes for sale continued to shrink to record lows, dropping 42% to 4,839 houses across the South Hampton Roads and Peninsula regions versus 8,384 a year ago.

Despite the smaller inventory, there were the same or more pending sales in September in every area of Hampton Roads than there were a year ago, with the exception of Williamsburg and Middlesex County, according to the data. Chesapeake had 55.8% more homes, or 547 total, under contract during the month than a year ago, and Virginia Beach had nearly 41% more, or 924 houses. On the Peninsula, there were 95% more homes under contract in James City County, a total of 205, versus a year ago.

In South Hampton Roads in September, the price grew by the largest percentage, 26%, in Portsmouth to $216,900 compared with a year ago. Not counting Smithfield, which doubled the number of homes sold compared with a year ago with 82 properties, Chesapeake and Suffolk saw the biggest increases in the number of homes sold, on a percent basis — 522 or a 49% increase and 210 or a 30% increase.

On the Peninsula, the median sale price grew the most in Williamsburg, by 40% compared with a year ago, to $349,900, according to data that noted 11 homes were sold in the city, a 10% increase year-over-year.

So far, in the first nine months of the year, every region of Hampton Roads has had more completed home sales than during the same time a year ago, with the sole exception of Franklin, where 57 homes have been sold, 8% fewer than a year ago. The median sale price in that time is up by as much as nearly 35% in Accomack County and is only down in Northampton (10%), Middlesex County (8%) and Williamsburg (nearly 2%).