26-03-2025
Housing market in Virginia is cooling
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — For 11 years, Maureen and Peter Adams have lived in a house on Washington Street in Portsmouth, and in December, they decided to sell, but three months later, their house is still on the market.
Peter Adams said they have made some changes to the house.
'We've done some cosmetic changes and we've just made sure the house looks looked really good for for sale,' he said.
In the past four months, his agent has held three open houses, advertised in magazines and is putting the word out on social media. There have been interested buyers, but still no sale.
But they're being patient amid a slowing market.
'I mean, we understand that it takes time to sell,' he said.
But is now the right time to sell?
According to the February 2025 Virginia Realtors' Virginia Home Sales Report, now may not be the best time to sell, as it has noted a 9% drop in sales from last February.
'Real estate is like politics — it's all local,' said Jay Mitchell, president of the Hampton Roads Realtors Association. 'So, depending on where you are, you can see that the market is still very strong. This office, for instance, we are ahead of where we were last year.'
He said overall, in this market, we are down from last year, but his office is ahead of where they were last year. He thinks weather may have played a role in the decline.
'We had some really, really wild, wacky weather in February,' Mitchell said. 'And so, believe it or not, that causes people to pause sometimes and not move forward on things like a home purchase or a car purchase or any of those things. So, we see it every now and then. When we have weather, it can affect what happens.'
Moving into the spring, Mitchell is expecting home sales to ramp up quickly. And if you are looking to move, listings will increase over the next few weeks.
'Right now, location, location, location is still important, but everything is selling quickly,' Mitchell said. 'Now, if it's in good condition and it's priced right, it'll sell almost instantly.'
Back on Washington Street, the Adams' who are looking to downsize, are waiting to sell their house before purchasing their next property.
'Our game plan is to continue to work with our agent and to be patient and wait for the right buyer to come through,' Peter Adams said.
If you're buying or selling a home and you're looking for the best deal, Mitchell recommends reaching out to a licensed realtor to help guide you through that process.
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