So what’s the hotness index for Hampton Roads?
Well, although temperatures are reaching into the 90s, according to Realtor.com it’s “slightly cool.”
But of course, they’re referring to the housing market, not the actual weather.
The online real estate website recently released its June 2018 “Market Hotness Index” and the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News market was ranked an unimpressive 224th out of 300 U.S. metro markets with a “hotness index” of 30.27 and a temperature of “slightly cool.”
Midland, Texas topped the Realtor.com index and was “very hot,” with a hotness index of 99.16. Columbus, Ohio was second, also “very hot,” with an index of 96.99.
The index compares each metro market’s current real estate trends to the past month and the past year, as well as looking at the median number of days homes are on the market and how fast the inventory moves. It also uses the number of “views” vs. a national average.
The Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News market came in just behind Pottsville, Pennsylvania and just ahead of Peoria, Illinois.
Realtor Ruth Jones with Long and Foster Real Estate said that while the index is probably a fairly accurate picture of the national market, she isn’t completely clear on where the website got its data and exactly how it was compiled. Also, she pointed out that realtor.com is a for-profit website and is not associated with the National Association of Realtors.
“I would say that overall this is a pretty accurate overview of the national market,” Jones said. “Even though there is a critical low across the country for available homes for sale, it is still a buyer’s market with low interest rates.”
The index says the local market is “cooling down” compared to last month but heating up compared to last year (inventory is moving 14-percent faster vs. last year, and moving three days faster than the U.S. average). The median number of days homes are on the market was 51, and the views are .5 times lower than the U.S. average.
